Friend or Foe?
by sd freek
Summary: As the Fantastic Four go through some personal problems and triumphant joys they discover that being a celebrity can attract the best and worse people. But can you trust even the best people or are they all enemies in the end?
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I don't own anyone but my mystery character.**

**Author's note: This is basically my story The New Arrival but with an extra character and a new mini plot. I tried so hard to write the story but it got increasing hard. I read and read, I wrote and rewrote and I didn't get anywhere so I did this. This chapter is possibly the only chapter in first person in this story because I wanted it to be all about what my character is thinking. I may let him have a chapter to 'think' at regular intervals in this story I'm not too sure. Anyway. Read and Review.**

The Invisible Woman.

Quite an ironic name in my eyes, she's impossible to avoid. Trust me, I tried. From the moment I saw her on my old television set in my bedroom, I knew she was the one. I often dream of the day we meet. But I'm also a realist. It's only a dream. I knew from that split second that she probably didn't give a damn about me. Had no idea who I was. And even if she did know me then she still wouldn't care. Her heart belongs to Reed Richards. The oh so clever scientist who has it all. Even my Sue. I could tell how she felt about him when I saw her for the first time. The way she looked at him with a sense of pride and admiration. Of longing and loving. So I tried to ignore her. Wipe her away from my memory; I didn't want to get hurt. It was actually quite easy, a lot easier than I thought. I just turned off my TV. But it only lasted for two hours. When I logged in on my favourite chat room her and her friends were the talk of the day. I hated it. Males spoke about her in a disgusting way, chatting enthusiastically about her body as if she were an object, while females immediately looked at her as competition and bitched about her like there was no tomorrow.

I can understand their obsession. Susan Storm is a very beautiful woman. The way she walks like a princess, so precious and promising and the way she talks like she knows you. The power she has to empathise with anything that has a story to tell. The way she thinks is amazing and every time she blinks I find myself extremely content.

But like I said, I'm only going to get hurt. Maybe it's too late, I don't know. What I do know is that it pains me to see her and know she doesn't feel the same way, mainly because she has no idea I exist. That's why I'm going to try. They always tell me the same thing. 'You never know until you try.' Because maybe, just maybe when she meets me she'll fall head over heels in love. Maybe she will leave her life of crime fighting behind to come and join me here. And even if she doesn't leave the one she loves she will remember me. Remember my name.

I have it all planned out. My first step is to let her know I'm happy if she is. Recently she gave birth to a baby boy. A card will show her how happy I am. But not an ordinary card. Not like the one every other male will send. No. I have an extra special thing to make her gasp and make her wonder. Wonder who her mystery card sender is, so when she meets me she'll be so full of gratitude she shall reward me and fulfil my fantasies.

Only a dream, but what's the harm in dreaming. And what's wrong with trying to make those dreams come true no matter how impossible they are because like they always told me. 'Nothing's impossible.'

**Author's note: Ok I have absolutely no idea about this chapter. It just kinda flowed nicely in my eyes. However I'm feeling a tiny bit unsure but I posted it anyway. You guys have to review and let me know how you feel! **


	2. Visiting the baby

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from my mystery character.**

**Author's note: Thank you for all reviews. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Please read and review. Wow I actually have nothing to ramble on about. Actually I do but I'm on a tight schedule. Enjoy!**

Three quarters of the Fantastic Four walked down the dull, dreary hospital corridor. Despite their dull surroundings the three men were all in high spirits. And they had good reason to be. Only three days ago did their fourth team mate give birth to a baby boy. He was premature and very small but beautiful. The long, straight corridor eventually led the three friends into a long, wide room. The room was slightly brighter than the corridor. Hospital beds ran along the room on either side. The men headed straight towards the end of the room and the bed at the right.

Sue Storm sat propped on in her bed and was flicking through a magazine. She looked tired yet excited at the same time.

"Hey!" Johnny greeted loudly. Sue looked up from the horoscopes page and to her guests.

"Hi guys," she said with a large smile. Reed smiled and gave his wife a kiss. Johnny and Ben both gave Sue a hug. Ben dropped the sack he was carrying beside the bed. "Fan mail." He explained.

"So, how are ya Suzie?" he continued.

"Yeah, how's my nephew." Sue noted the proud tone in her brother's voice.

"Well why don't you ask him?" Sue said. She could barely contain her excitement now.

"Cool!" Johnny burst out. It would be the first time he and Ben would be able to see the bouncing baby boy. "Can we go now?" he asked excitedly. Sue nodded.

"Lead the way," Ben said in his gravely voice, even he couldn't stop smiling.

Sue got out of bed and put on her blue cotton dressing gown. She slid her feet into matching slippers and grabbed Reed's hand. The couple walked hand in hand down the ward followed by their friends. Many newcomers to the ward or from other wards stopped to stare at the celebrities. They all seemed very interested to see that The Invisible Woman was in her dressing gown.

The four walked down a corridor that was a whole lot brighter than the others. This corridor was decorated with murals of farm animals and tropical beaches. Various cartoon characters were relaxing on the beach or hanging out with the animals. The brightness abruptly ended when the four took a left at the end of the hallway. The bold and bright colours were replaced with a more plain and simple white.

"Okay, now everyone wash their hands," Sue instructed as she approached a sink.

"Why?" Johnny asked stupidly.

"Because these babies immune systems aren't quite up to scratch yet. Bacteria that seems like nothing to us could kill them." Reed explained. Johnny nodded slowly; he didn't seem to have taken anything that Reed had said in.

"Yeah, whatever," he replied distractedly. He looked past the sink and into the room ahead in hope to see his nephew.

"Which one is he?" Ben asked as he found himself also trying to get a glimpse of the baby.

"You won't be able to see him from here. He's in the next room." Reed informed the excited pair. Both of them deflated disappointedly before rushing to the sinks. **(Author's note: Ok, now the last time I went to a premature ward was 8 years ago to visit my little brother. I can't remember much about sinks but I remember the importance of washing your hands. If I get anything wrong please correct me because I only really remember looking at my brother.) **

Johnny bounded eagerly behind Reed and Sue as he followed them towards the baby. Ben trailed behind suddenly feeling awkward. After Reed and Sue got married, less than a year ago, he had felt as if he didn't really fit in with them. They were all family, through blood and marriage and going to visit a baby in hospital tended to be more of a family occasion than for friends.

"C'mon." Johnny whispered loudly when he realised his friend was behind.

"Here he is," Reed said proudly. Johnny forgot about Ben and literally sprinted over to the incubator. He pressed his hands and face against the glass and gazed in awe at the small bundle in the middle of the incubator.

"He's so small," Johnny breathed.

"Well duh, the kid weighs 3lbs. Whaddya expect?" Ben said as he shuffled over but even he was surprised at the size of the child when he got closer.

The baby was wide-awake and looked around sleepily with bright blue eyes.

"He's got blue eyes! Like me!" Johnny said excitedly.

"And Sue." Ben added.

"Yeah and Sue," Johnny agreed dismissively.

"Can I?" Johnny gestured to the small round doors of the box.

"No you can not touch your nephew." Sue said sarcastically. Johnny pulled a face and opened the doors. He put his hands into the incubator carefully and stroked the tiny hand. The baby immediately latched onto Johnny's finger as best as he could. Johnny looked like he was going to cry.

"Aww," Sue said and she moved closer to Reed. Ben grinned and Reed felt a surge of happiness. _If only everyday was like this. _He thought.

The four stayed in the room for a long time but eventually had to leave. As they left the ward the topic of names showed up.

"What're you gonna call him?" Ben asked.

"Well, we're still not too sure." Reed admitted.

"I have the perfect name." Johnny said with a smile.

"What?" Sue asked suspiciously.

"Well, I'd say this baby is a blessing," Johnny began.

"And?" Sue asked. She knew exactly what he was going to say.

"He's a gift from God. We should really call him Jonathan,"

"No!" Sue said quickly. "I am not naming my son after you,"

"Why not?"

"It'll be confusing," Reed said in an effort not to hurt Johnny's feelings.

"Confusing my ass." Johnny muttered angrily.

"Don't get upset kid. It would get kinda confusin'," Ben said.

"Whatever," Johnny said. This meant he had officially gone into sulk mode.

"I'm sorry Johnny but I want him to have a name that suits him. Maybe if you died or….or helped me through this pregnancy then yeah but. You didn't."

"I didn't help you? Yeah, I guess helping you out of chairs, bending down to get you stuff you dropped and holding your hand when you gave birth because Reed's hands were turning into Rubber isn't helpful."

"Will you stop being so immature!" Sue scolded. "I don't want two Johnnies. One is quite enough."

"What are you tryna say? The name Junior is very nice."

"No! Johnny you're very… high maintenance. Just like Granddad who just so happens to be called Jonathan too. Now I'm sensing a pattern in names and I won't be able to deal with both you and a possible younger version of you!"

"That made no sense what so ever. Sue your supposed to be the brainy one. Even I know names don't affect your behaviour."

"Actually they sometimes do have a link," Reed lied.

"Yeah but only in stories."

"Will you stop moaning? The baby won't be called Johnny. End of story." Sue snapped.

"You know, I was thinking of a name," Reed murmured. Everyone looked at Reed.

"Franklin." There was a moment's silence as everyone considered the name.

"Like Dad," Johnny said with a smile.

"Reed you're a genius!" Sue threw her arms around her husband.

"It sounds pretty good stretch," Ben said, nodding happily.

"Well I just thought. He died a few months ago and when you told Johnny he needed to die to have a baby named after him, well it hit me." Reed explained.

"Well not that hearing Reed talk is exciting but I got things to do today. I'll come see you soon sis," Johnny said, he gave his sister a hug and walked off.

"Yeah we should be going. I'll have to call my mother and tell her we've got a name." Reed said happily. Johnny walked back up to them.

"How'd ya get out of here?" he asked with a sheepish grin. Ben smirked.

"Come with us kid," he said. "C'mon stretch, see ya Suzie."

"Bye Sue, I'll be back tomorrow." Reed gave his wife a kiss and the three men walked off towards the elevator that took them down to the ground floor. Sue watched them until they disappeared from view before going back to her ward.

Sue didn't particularly enjoy being stuck in hospital. Being pregnant has its downside when you're a superhero. She had planned to get back to the good life as soon as possible after the birth but now it looked like she'd be in hospital for a while. At least she still had fan mail. Sue sat down on her bed and looked at the sack Ben had brought. On top lay a pristine white envelope. _Might as well start reading. _Her name was written carefully in black italics, not her superhero name but her real name. And there was no address. _A hand delivered letter? _Sue opened the letter and nearly dropped the card. A clear photograph graced the front cover but she was slightly disturbed to see what was on it. It was a private photo she had lost a few weeks ago. It was of her father. It was a photo of her father when he was a child. _Who the hell sent this? Is this a prank from Johnny? _Sue opened the letter. Written carefully in the same writing it said:

_Dear Mrs Susan Richards,_

_Congratulations on the birth of your child. He's a very beautiful boy, especially his eyes. They look a lot like yours. _

Sue stopped reading; she knew it was Johnny now for sure. Nobody had seen the child apart from them and the medical staff and the other mothers. However she was intrigued to know what he had put. She looked at the card again.

_He deserves a good name, I'm glad you didn't choose Jonathan. Franklin is much better._ Sue froze. She searched for a name but there wasn't one. Johnny didn't know the baby was going to be called Franklin and he wouldn't have had time to write the card out when he disappeared. _Unless it was a group effort_. Sue stared at it for a few moments and put it on the bedside table. She would question the boys tomorrow.


	3. Family problems

**Disclaimer: I own the mystery person and Violet. No one or thing else.**

**Author's note: I changed the plot. Again. Third time today. I think I like this version better. I hope you'll like it too. Thank you for reviews, more are always welcome!**

Reed walked down the hallway of his home. It was unusually quiet. He stopped walking outside a door and knocked softly.

"Johnny?" he called. There was no reply so Reed knocked again. "Johnny can I come in?"

"No," came a muffled reply. Reed rolled his eyes.

"Please?" he begged.

"I said no."

"Well you do know that whatever happens I'm going to come in anyway,"

"Yeah, and?"

"I'm coming in now,"

"Whatever."

Reed opened the door. Johnny was lying on his bed listening to his iPod. He had been doing this ever since they had got back from the hospital the week before. Not having his nephew named after him had really upset him.

"Hi," Reed said softly. "Are you okay?"

"Yes." Johnny's terse reply increased the tension in the room by 100

"Do you want to come to the hospital today?" Reed knew what the answer was going to be but he could at least try asking.

"No."

"Are you sure? Sue misses you,"

"I know."

"You know?" Reed was confused.

"She's sent me like a dozen text messages, begging me to go and see her,"

"Well, she is your sister."

"And?"

"And…" Reed struggled to think of an argument. "And this is a tough time for her too."

"How?" Johnny interrupted. "She's had a fucking baby. How is that tough? She's having the time of her goddamn life." Reed had no idea how to deal with Johnny's temper. It was normally Sue who was good at calming people down. _I should've studied Psychology at college instead. _

"Childbirth is no picnic Johnny. She's stuck in hospital with nothing to do,"

"She can look at Franklin,"

"Listen, all I'm saying is it would brighten up her day. How do you think Franklin would feel if he knew you never went to see him in hospital?"

"He wouldn't give a fuck because I'm not his fucking dad!" Johnny began to raise his voice.

"Calm down!" Reed shouted. "Will you stop being so selfish? It's not about Franklin or Sue. It's about you doing something you won't live to regret! Wouldn't you like to be the loving uncle in all the hospital pictures?" Johnny didn't reply.

"I just not in the mood to go, okay?" He said after a short pause. Reed looked down sadly before leaving, closing the door behind him.

Reed exhaled loudly and went into the living room to find Ben. Ben looked up when he heard him coming.

"Lemme guess, the kid's still cryin'?" Ben asked sarcastically. Reed nodded and flopped down on the sofa.

"I don't know what to say to make him come with us,"

"Well I heard ya yelling stretch and I think ya made a few good points,"

"Really?"

"I think the photo thing about bein' a good uncle made 'im think. That's why he didn't shout back,"

"Sue will be disappointed."

"Ah, they'll both get over it," Ben said reassuringly. Though Reed knew he was right he couldn't help but worry.

"I just think there's something else bugging the both of them," Reed admitted.

"Like what?"

"Well I know Johnny can be dramatic but even he wouldn't go so far over something so small. And Sue seems a bit nervous and on edge, like she thinks she's being watched. Or maybe it's just me,"

"It's just you," Ben said bluntly. "Don't worry about 'em egghead. It's just a lil brother sister battle."

"I hope so,"

"It is, trust me. I used to fight my Daniel all the time, and even now me and Violet **(A/N: I will probably make loads of references to my other stories so don't be surprised if random characters make appearances) **are always arguing."

"Yeah I guess so. Sibling rivalry is something you never really grow out of. I guess it gets more infrequent but when two mature adults-"

"Mature?" Ben asked with a nod towards the direction of the bedrooms.

"Okay fine, ADULTS fight it gets nasty,"

"You bet. Vi just gets more and more sly," Reed smiled. "You wouldn't be laughing if she was your sister." Ben said seriously but he was glad to make Reed smile.

ELSEWHERE

_I gave her the wrong impression. She's scared. She was supposed to be intrigued about how I managed to find the photo. I guess I shouldn't do that again. A simple gift will suffice. Yes a gift. Something tells me flowers and chocolates will make her happy but that's way too simple. No, I think it would be better if I gave her something more interesting. But my idea of interesting is her idea of scary. Maybe I should stop with gifts for now, until she knows I'm friendly. I shall write her a poem. Yes, that would be very nice. She likes poetry. _

AT THE HOSPITAL

Sue was bored. There wasn't a lot to do in hospital. And now the woman next to her had gone home she was very lonely. The miserable midwives didn't help either. All of them looked like they would rather be at home watching soaps than looking after people. The fan mail had been entertaining. Letters from the usual desperate males and even women, notes of praise from little girls and cards from a few mothers offering advice on children. Sue had even received an advert for a Nanny. She picked up the unsigned card she had received a week ago. She was now certain it was Johnny, he was too mad to carry on with the prank. Sue just wished she could have the chance to confront him. She had tried to call him on his cell but he never answered, it made Sue wish caller ID was something that had never been invented. She had to admit it was clever of him. He must've discovered the photo and sent it to her for fun.


	4. A poem

**Disclaimer: I only own my mystery person; I really need to give him a name. I don't even own the poem. It belongs to Christopher Marlowe**

**Author's note: Thank you for your reviews, I'm sorry this is such a short chapter but …actually I don't have an excuse. I just liked ending it there. The poem I used is called 'The passionate Shepard to his love' by Christopher Marlowe. Lets just say poetry isn't really my department. Believe me I actually made an effort but all my poems sound wrong. AND they insist we do poetry every year in English in which I always end up embarrassed when my book is completely blank. Anyway enough about with me, on with my short little chappy.**

Sue wasn't surprised that Johnny didn't come to visit her. She was however very disappointed. It meant he was playing the role of sulky, immature teenager again. She knew Ben was enjoying a break from Johnny's careless remarks and blunt comments but even he found the peace uneasy. It was a natural Storm talent; controlling the mood. Whenever her or Johnny were angry or upset it seemed that everyone else was. Sue nodded politely as she listened to her husband talk. Reed noticed Sue's mind was elsewhere; he looked at Ben for help. Ben shrugged and looked back at his paper.

"Is Johnny okay?" Sue asked.

"Actually I'm not too sure. He's still moody but I think something else is bugging him. I tried to get him to come today but he put his foot down,"

"Actually Reed put in a pretty good argument,"

"Argument? You guys were fighting?" Sue asked, her tone a mixture or anger and worry.

"We were just talking," A voice interrupted before Reed could reply. The three people looked up to see Johnny standing at the end of the bed. He looked down and scratched the back of his neck, coming to the hospital didn't seem like such a good idea after all.

"I guess somebody feels a little stupid," Ben commented with a smirk. Johnny pulled a face.

"I got bored," he mumbled. Sue smiled.

"Come here. You can't even give your sister a hug?" Sue said with mock disapproval, Johnny grinned and bounded childishly up to his sister, he gave her a big hug. Reed stretched his arm to take a chair from the unoccupied bed beside them. He handed it to Johnny who quickly sat down.

"How've you been?" Johnny asked.

"Bored," Sue admitted. "I can't wait to get back out there. I actually miss wearing my suit,"

"Well you haven't missed anything," Ben said as he flicked the page of his paper.

"Yeah, we've just been sitting around. The most action for me was when a kid was trying to steal a meal from McDonalds." Johnny admitted.

"And I actually have no work to do." Reed added.

"You guys seem to be having so much fun," Sue said dryly.

"Are we just gonna sit here?" Johnny asked. "Cos no offence Sue but I really came to see Franklin,"

"I feel so loved," Sue said sarcastically.

"Well as a matter of fact I was hoping we could go and see him too," Reed said excitedly.

"Can you believe these two?" Sue asked Ben. Ben simply shrugged and smiled.

When the four reached the incubator holding baby Franklin a little white envelope lay on top of it. It was addressed to Sue. Sue glared at her brother and hit him on the arm.

"What?" he asked, rubbing the spot on his arm where Sue had hit him.

"Stop sending those stupid letters, that first one really freaked me out,"

"What letters?" Sue narrowed her eyes and scrutinised her brother. He was watching her warily. Sue snatched up the letter and tore it open.

_I'm sorry I scared you. I wrote this poem this morning. It's about you._

_Come live with me and be my love, and we will all the pleasures prove that valleys, groves, hills, and fields, Woods or steepy mountain yields._

_And we will sit upon the rocks, seeing the shepherds feed their flocks, by shallow rivers to whose falls Melodious birds sing madrigals._

_And I will make thee beds of roses And a thousand fragrant posies, A cap of flowers, and a kirtle Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle; _

_A gown made of the finest wool which from our pretty lambs we pull; Fair lined slippers for the cold, with buckles of the purest gold;_

_A belt of straw and ivy buds, with coral clasps and amber studs: And if these pleasures may thee move, Come live with me and be my love. _

_The shepherds' swains shall dance and sing for thy delight each May morning: If these delights thy mind may move, then live with me and be my love._

Sue looked up from the card. Johnny was useless with poetry, she had often had to help him in that part of his studies. She looked at the three men surrounding her.

"What?" Johnny asked.

"What does it say?" Reed asked.

"Is it hate mail?" Ben asked. He pounded his fists together scaring the man walking past at the time.

"No. It's poetry. It's a love poem."


	5. A clue!

**Disclaimer: I only own creepy stalker guy. I think I have a name for him now.**

**Author's note: Thank you for your reviews I'm glad you all liked my poem choice. This chapter is just the last thing before the plot escalates but I'm not even sure how to that so it could be a while before my next update. **

"Someone sent YOU of all people a love poem?" Johnny asked in disbelief.

"What are you tryna say?" Sue asked with mock anger.

"Believe it or not Johnny your sister is a very attractive woman," Reed said with a smile.

"Yeah well we all know your eyes are kinda blurry cos you spend so much time in front of the computer." Johnny said with a smirk, ignoring the glare his sister sent him. Johnny snatched the card out of Sue's hand and read the first few lines. He quickly got bored and handed it to Reed. Reed read the poem and suddenly felt small. It was a very good poem; there was no way he could write anything as good. Reed noticed that his wife however didn't seem too happy with her card.

Sue hugged herself tightly. It was a lovely poem, she couldn't deny that but the messages scared the hell out of her. And how on earth did her new friend know how she felt about the first card? She hadn't told anyone about it. Sue looked around self-consciously and refrained herself from turning invisible.

Ben watched her worriedly. She was scared and Ben was going to pulverize the little pervert who was sending those unsigned cards. Ben looked at the little baby. He was fast asleep. Ben smiled and walked towards the incubator. He rested one hand gently on top of the glass. A small black dot on the blanket caught his eye.

"Hey Stretch, did ya say these glass things are to protect the lil' kids from dirt?"

"Well, yes. Why?" Reed asked curiously. Ben turned around to face his comrades.

"I don't think they're doing a very good job,"

"What do you mean," Sue asked, panic showed clearly through her voice. She ran over to the incubator and looked at her son worriedly.

"There's some dirt in the corner," Ben grumbled. Sue's eye's widened and she sent a force field around her baby immediately. Reed pressed his face against the glass and stretched the lens of his eyes. Reed scoured the incubator for any sign of dirt.

"Talk about paranoid," Johnny muttered but he understood their worry.

"It's not dirt," Reed stated after a few tense seconds. Sue released the breath she had been holding and released the force field. Reed opened the doors to the incubator and reached in. He picked up something very small.

"What is it?" Johnny asked.

"By the looks of it. It's a camera," Reed said after closely scrutinizing the small speck.

"But it's so tiny," Johnny said in astonishment, he was surprised. He didn't know you could have a camera that small.

"I thought that was something only secret agents had in movies," The youngster added.

"Well it is. These are top secret. Not just anyone has access to these. I'm going to go back to the lab and see if I can find out where this machine is sending images." Reed said before turning around to leave.

The three remaining people looked at each other.

"I'm guessing that Suzie's new friend put that their," Ben said.

"And I'm guess this stalker isn't just a Nerd who sits at home watching you on TV and cutting pictures out of magazines."

"I guess," Sue said quietly.

"Well don't worry. They don't let crazy people into the secret service and stuff." Johnny said brightly. "That means it was someone who obviously has access to things but isn't a proper member. Maybe a rejected trainee." He added.

Sue looked up and for the first time Johnny saw real fear in her eyes. He'd seen his sister scared but that was usually when she'd come across something with eight legs. No, Sue was scared as in petrified.

"Sue, you okay?" Johnny asked warily. Ben rolled his eyes.

"What do you think?" he asked gruffly. Johnny pulled a face and put his arms out to his sister.

"D'ya want a hug?" Johnny asked. Sue nodded and walked into his arms.

ELSEWHERE

_I have one word. Shit._

_This is something I really didn't count on. _

_1. She's scared to death of me_

_2. Reed Richards will trace my camera link _

_3. And when he does I'll end up dead because I'll have three angry men after me. I'll be burnt, squeezed and beaten. Nice._

_I'll have to find a replacement camera and god knows how hard that will be. At least she liked the poem. It took me a very long time to write actually. I was quite pleased with it even though it didn't have the desired effect._

_But what did I expect? For a single poem to change her views entirely? Well I guess I did or at least I hoped she would think better of me. The younger one called me a stalker. I'm not a stalker. If I were a stalker I would follow her around. Do I follow her? No. I watch her on my computer. Do I send her cards just like every other person in New York? Yes, because everyone else does. I don't call that stalking._


	6. Two steps closer

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this chapter. And I forgot stalker guy's name. Oh crap.**

**Author's note: I'm sorry it took so long to update but this story has been unbelievably hard to write because so far I know how to end it but I don't know how to get there. I think I'll just cut right to the end and follow up this story with another. Oh well, thank you for all the reviews.**

The whole room was silent apart from the clicks of a computer keyboard. All three male members of the Fantastic Four were in Reed's office. Reed was sitting at the computer typing furiously on the keyboard; he was so close to finding the exact location he could taste it. It was at least three in the morning but Johnny and Ben insisted on waiting, waiting for Reed to get a sign. Ben was now dozing in his chair and Johnny had given up on pacing the room and was sitting on the edge of the desk watching Reed.

Sue was confident that Reed would find the person who was watching her and her friends would make sure he had what was coming. But in the mean time all she could do was lie in bed. She looked around almost expecting to see a person watching her but the whole ward was asleep. After the boys had reluctantly left her alone Sue had gone over the area around her bed with a fine-toothed comb, she desperately wished to have Reed's power for at least a minute. Only he could stretch the elements of his eyes and see microscopic objects quite clearly. Sue reached over to the bedside table and picked up the card. The fact that they were hand delivered scared her a lot and finding out it wasn't a silly prank from Johnny had scared her even more but the poem was beautiful. Sue found herself reading it over and over again. No one had ever written her poetry before. Reed had tried once and it had been a good attempt but it was nothing on what she was reading. Sue hated the fact that she was so curious but she wasn't surprised. Who wouldn't want to know who was sending them anonymous cards?

Reed smiled triumphantly. He looked up at Johnny whose facial expression was blank.

"What?" Johnny asked warily. The older man was starting to scare him slightly. Reed nodded his head towards the computer screen. Recognition crept over Johnny's face, his eyes widened and he practically shoved Reed out of the way to read what was written on the shiny monitor. Johnny scanned the codes for anything that made sense but it didn't.

"28 Hanson street," Reed said when he realised Johnny couldn't find the address. Johnny looked at Reed and leapt off the table. He didn't bother to take a jacket.

'I'm gonna fly ahead," he stated before running off in the direction of the balcony. Reed stood up.

"Ben!" he shouted. His friend woke up with a jolt.

"What?" Ben asked sleepily.

"We have a location," Reed said, a hint of excitement in his voice. Ben grinned and stood up. The two suited up and left the building.

Johnny had a fair idea where he was going; one of his latest girlfriends had lived not too far away from the same spot. He soared over the dimly lit sky, his flames just skimming the tops of buildings.

"Johnny?" Reed's voice buzzed out of the com-link.

"Yeah?"

"Johnny I need you to stop flying,"

"Why?"

"Because chances are this person will see you coming. Land at the east end of the park."

"Yes sir!" Johnny turned around and flew towards the park. When he got there Reed and Ben were waiting. Ben was grinning at the thought of a possible fight while Reed looked angry.

"Johnny," Reed greeted when he saw Johnny land. "We should get there now. It's only a few blocks down," Reed added. Together the three men ran towards the reasonably quiet streets.

As they got closer to Hanson Street the atmosphere suddenly became tense. Neither of the three spoke as they quickly walked. After one block Johnny had suggested that Ben's pounding footsteps could be heard from miles away so it would be better if they walked. Ben had wanted to punch Johnny at that point but he knew he was right.

They stopped outside a fairly modern building. They were on a street with a string of shops. The building they stood outside of was an Internet Café. The café was empty but a light was on in a room above it.

"What do we do now?" Johnny asked.

"Well we can't just knock on the door. It may be better if we use force." Reed concluded. The others looked at Ben. Ben grinned. He destroyed the door in one swift punch. The sound of the door shattering echoed down the wide, sleepy street.

"Well I'm glad we used the element of surprise," Johnny said sarcastically before following Reed and Ben up the stairs.

The three men easily navigated through the apartment to the room. It was the only room with a light on in the building. When they got to the room they were surprised to see it was locked.

"Why would this dude lock himself in? Don't tell me he's…doing stuff thinking about Sue."

"I'm sure that's not the case," Reed reassured his brother in law but he didn't sound very sure himself.

"I bet he's a dirty lil' pervert. What else is he gonna be doing?" Ben said, he cracked his knuckles and flicked the door. It crashed down revealing a comfortable bedroom. That was empty.

"Ah, shit. He saw me coming." Johnny grumbled as he turned to leave the room.

"Wait, the lil weirdo might be hiding." Ben suggested.

"He's right. You two should search the apartment. Meanwhile I'll just check that computer." Reed commanded. He walked up to the computer and frowned. It was a fairly old model.

"What?" Reed turned around.

"Johnny why aren't you searching?"

"Because I wanna know how this guy can get cool secret agent stuff and have a crappy computer,"

"You know it's an old computer,"

"Dude they were hot stuff when I was in high school. I'm 24 now!"

"It just makes no sense. I'm guessing this isn't the only computer around here,"

"Well there is an internet café underneath us,"

"The place is completely empty. Not even any photos to help identify the lil' freak." Ben said as he walked into the room.

"What about computers? Were there any other computers?"

"Nope. Just a pretty normal family home."

"Family home?" Johnny asked. "You telling me this guy has a family.

"There's a kids room," Ben jerked his thumb to the right. Reed looked at the computer and sat down regardless of the old model. He easily logged on and browsed through the files. He didn't find anything interesting. While he searched the computer Ben and Johnny went over the room with a fine toothcomb. Johnny looked at the only bookshelf in the room.

"Yo guys, check this out," Reed stretched his head over to Johnny while Ben took a few steps towards him. Johnny pulled out a thick book.

"Redman Hill High yearbook? So what?" Ben asked.

"We just got one step closer to finding our culprit. All we have to do is track down every single guy in this book," Johnny said excitedly.

"That would take a very long time Johnny," Reed said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Yeah, and what if it's a girl?" Ben's random thought earned him strange looks from his comrades. Johnny opened up the book of the person and smiled.

"Guys, I think we've taken two steps,' he announced. Johnny turned the book round to face his friends.

"So the guy's scribbled all over it. How handy,"

"Hello, little notes about personalities. I don't know why he would draw all over his yearbook but if it helps us he might have written something like 'Yay. It's my picture!' or something like that."

"Johnny's actually right." Reed said he glanced at the cover. "It's fairly recent too," Reed said as he inspected it.

"It's from last year. I guess we're not dealing with a creepy old man then." Johnny said quietly.

"We should go. I don't know about everyone else but I need to sleep" Reed announced. The others nodded and they quietly left the building.

**Author's note: Ok, I remember that everyone was so desperate to know what was up with Johnny. The thing is…I don't know myself. I have a fair idea but if anyone has any ideas they would be greatly appreciated and will get the full credit.**


	7. A new and probably unexpected character

**Disclaimer: I only own stalker guy. He has a name, which you will all know soon I promise.**

**Author's note: Now this could possibly be the last update for a month because as of Sunday evening I must leave Fanfiction because I have SATS in May. I'll try and do something before Sunday but it might just end on a cliff hanger. **

Reed didn't feel the same going to the hospital. He knew by all means that he should be very happy, his wife was finally coming home from hospital but he didn't feel much like smiling. It had been a week since they had discovered the notebook but the search for Sue's stalker had been very uneventful. They had finished reading all the notes in the entire yearbook and found nothing useful. The notes were mostly pointless, they pointed out who was on the cheerleading squad, who wanted to be on the cheerleading squad etc. No notes of particular memories, no notes pointing out friends or enemies. It was almost as if the commentator of the notes had not really known anyone at all. It was if they were just a spectator making notes as they watched people go about their daily lives.

Sue was sitting on her bed when Reed arrived. A bag stuffed full of the necessities she had brought to the hospital lay beside her. Sue was dressed in the simple attire of jeans and a red v-neck jumper. Some worn red converse graced her feet. She smiled as she saw Reed approach and jumped off the bed to give him a hug.

"Ready to go?" Reed asked with a weary smile. Sue nodded.

"I have never been so bored in my life," she admitted. Reed noted that she had cheered up considerably since last week. He didn't want to bring up the stalker subject in case it dampened her mood.

When the couple got back to the Baxter Building a large bundle of fans were crowded around the doors. They screamed as Sue stepped out the car. Many of them held banners saying 'Welcome back,' or 'Congratulations'. Sue smiled at the large crowds and waved. Reed walked behind her with the suitcase.

"Welcome back Mrs Richards," Jimmy the doorman greeted as he opened the door for the celebrities.

"Thanks Jimmy. It's nice to be back." The Richards' quickly made their way to the lift and were home within a minute.

When the lift doors opened at floor 35 Sue was surprised to see there were a lot of people standing in the lab. A large banner hung over the entrance to the lab. 'Welcome back Sue!' it said in bold blue lettering. Sue was pleased to see many familiar faces including many members of her family whom she hadn't seen in a while.

"Welcome back Sis," Johnny shouted from the other side of the room. This

grabbed the attention of everyone in the room and they all crowded around her to give her hugs and congratulate her.

THAT EVENING ON HANSON STREET

"That's great. Thanks," The man called out to the builders as they drove off. He stroked his newly mended door and grinned. He looked into the window of the Internet Café below his house and checked his appearance. He brushed his floppy brown hair out of his deep brown eyes. He sighed and wished he were taller like he did every single day. He pulled his plain black t-shirt down over his dark green combat trousers. He glanced down at his feet, which were covered with grey and black Vans. He grinned as he noticed he suddenly looked a lot older than he actually was. The young man was about to turn around and go back inside when a sleek, black limousine drove up beside him. Now it wasn't every day that you saw such a flashy car in the man's neighbourhood so he watched curiously to see who would climb out. Nobody got out the vehicle, instead the passenger wound down the tinted windows. The man watched through the reflection of the café window to try and see who was inside. The inside of the car was dark and it was impossible to make out any of the shapes.

"Hello," the voice was raspy. A shiver went down the man's spine as he recognised the voice.

"Hi" he said meekly.

"I take it you got my message," the voice was strong, commanding yet it had a weak edge.

"Actually I didn't."

"Don't lie… get in." The man shook his head.

"I…uh… I have things to do,"

"That's something we have in common. But one quick drive around the block isn't going to hurt."

"I really don't think I have the time. So many chores to do before everyone else gets home." The man listened nervously as the passenger began to whisper urgently to someone. The door opened and a tall, slim man got out.

"Please. Get inside the car." He said menacingly.

"I really don't have time for this, you know I need to-" the man was cut off when a small dart hit him in the side of his neck. His body crumpled to the floor into a heap.

"Nice shot Leonard." The voice inside the car said, obviously very proud. Leonard grinned and checked nobody was around before grabbing the man and shoving his limp body into the car. He shut the front door of the house before getting into the limo himself. The car sped off smoothly, unnoticed by any of the citizens.


	8. Mother's Day

**Disclaimer: I only own my mystery guy…and he has a name, or a surname anyway. I call him…drum roll please…. MR BROWN! Ta da! You like? Yeah I know, not very imaginative but my exotic surnames kinda sound ridiculous. You should see some of my Sims. **

**Author's note: Yep, he has a name, which I told you but I couldn't really think of a surname so I stole it from a book cover. I'm sorry that I left last chapter on such a cliffy. I had planned to post this on Mother's Day but then I forgot. So I opened up this chapter right from where I left off, you guys remember right? When that dude got kidnapped. **

The first thing he saw when he woke up was an all too familiar face staring back at him. The man groaned internally as he recognised the tall, thin man sitting opposite him. The man looked to the left and sitting beside him was another tall man. The two of them had a similar complexion and the same oily black hair. The only differences were that one was a bigger build and had piercing blue eyes.

"Ah. Our guest has awoken." The man sat up and ran a hand through his brown locks nervously. He was sitting trapped in a limo with the 'reformed' Victor von Doom and his smarmy assistant. Things didn't look too good.

"I told you guys I don't wanna be a part of this," he said bravely. Victor gave a false laugh.

"Oh but you do. How many times do I have to tell you how beneficial this will be for you?"

"I can't let you hurt her,"

"Who says I intend to hurt any of them?"

"I dunno. Maybe that evil glint in your eyes," Victor laughed again at the young man.

"I just want to talk to them. And if you are really so unsure I can arrange or you to be with her while I talk to the rest of them,"

"No. You'll have to find someone else to do your dirty work for you,"

"But who else seems to be our little hacker supreme? You have an insight into the private files of America's new most wanted, no one else has such skill."

"It's a born gift." The man glared at Victor.

"Mr Brown if you would just consider-"

"I told you no." Victor glared.

"Fine." Victor said stiffly. "Stop!" he shouted. The limo immediately came to a halt. Leonard opened the door and pushed the man out.

"Goodbye," he said abruptly before slamming the door shut. The limo sped off the second the door closed. Leaving Mr Brown sitting on the kerb.

THE NEXT DAY

The Fantastic Four sat at their dining room table. Ben sat in front of a large pile of eggs and bacon, beside him sat Johnny who was munching on a packet of Lays. **(A/N: Did I mention I love them? And they are so hard to get hold of if you live in London! Sorry, random thought. Won't do it again. Just excited to be back where I belong. Sorry, still rambling. Carry on.)** Opposite sat Sue who was eating eggs and bacon too. Her excuse was that she missed unhealthy food. Beside sat Reed sipping coffee and reading the Sunday paper.

"Look what came in the mail," Reed said excitedly. Everyone looked at him expectantly. He produced a pink envelope, written on the front was 'Mom'. Sue grinned and took the envelope from Reed. She tore it open and took out the pink card inside. On the front there was a picture of a Franklin. Written in big lettering was 'Happy Mother's day'. Sue's smile grew and she opened the card. Her smile grew as she read the card.

"Read it aloud," Ben grumbled, he had never got a chance to see the card. Sue smiled.

"Okay, it says: Dear Mommy, I know I may be 17 days old but it doesn't change the fact that I'm happy. For 17 days you stood by my box and-" Sue stopped as Johnny stood up hastily, clearly a little upset.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Home," Johnny mumbled over his shoulder as he left the room. Sue clamped a hand over her mouth. Although Johnny lived in the Baxter Building with them there was one other place that Johnny called home: 1639 East Drive, Granville, Long Island.

"What?" Reed asked.

"Oh my god I completely forgot," she muttered before following Johnny.

"Where are they going?" Reed asked Ben. Ben shrugged.

"I think the kid's gonna go see his mom. Saw him crying over a scrapbook a few days ago."

"After 15 years he is still upset?" Reed asked in surprise.

"Well I think he took it pretty hard." Ben mumbled before shovelling a forkful of egg into his mouth.

**(A/N: If anyone doesn't get it, Sue and Johnny are going to go and visit their mum's grave.)**

BAXTER BUILDING UNDERGROUND CAR PARK

"Johnny! Johnny! Johnny wait!" Sue called. Johnny stopped walking and turned around. His sister ran up to him.

"Why didn't you remind me?" she asked.

"Didn't wanna burst your bubble." Johnny replied tersely. Sue followed Johnny to his Porsche in silence.

Neither of them spoke for the first half of their journey. As they drew closer to Long Island Johnny spoke up.

"Sorry about the whole not coming to see you in hospital thing," he muttered.

"It's no big deal," Sue said soothingly.

"It's just… the whole idea of being around moms kinda…well I just remembered it was Mother's day and I didn't wanna go out and see all this family and mom stuff."

"It's okay. I just can't believe I forgot."

"I forgot too. I guess that's why I was so upset. I mean, when we got our powers always wondered what Mom might be thinking. Y'know, was she scared when I was on fire for the first time? Was she proud when I saved that kid? But after Doom I stopped thinking." Johnny mumbled sadly.

"Well we've had a lot to deal with. After Doom we had Mole Man, then there was Alicia's step father - what was he called?"

"Puppet master." Johnny answered.

"Prince Namour was a pretty tough one too."

"No he wasn't. You just liked him." Johnny smirked slightly. Sue mouth hung open in mock shock.

"No I didn't. It was hard because…well-"

"He was such a charmer, I understand."

"No…Okay so maybe he was but I wasn't really attracted to him."

"Sue, Reed is not here and he's not gonna know you liked him. Okay so maybe he figured it out but the dude is safely underwater with no memory of you, it's not like he's gonna come back and try and marry you."

"I know," Sue said almost sadly.

"And now something tells me you wish he did come back, Sue?"

"No, I just wish that Reed might have taken a few tips from him that's all. Namour was so romantic and attentive-"

"And obsessed."

"Yeah, that too but he made me feel like a queen. I didn't and I don't love him but Reed makes me feel like a princess and there is a difference.

"Well there is a difference, for instance Namour made you wear a crown and made his subjects call you his majesty." Johnny pointed out.

"Yeah I guess," Sue said but she found herself looking at the lake they passed hopefully.

Johnny seemed to notice, he bit his lip and turned on the radio.

BACK AT THE BAXTER BUILDING

Reed sat hunched over his computer. His fingers flew effortlessly over the keyboard. Ben stood watching, he was quite impressed. The two were seeing if they could find any more leads on Sue's friend. He hadn't written in a while but Reed had discovered that someone had sat down on his computer chair and browsed his files. Reed was certain that it was the stalker who had touched the keyboard the night before. Ben noticed that Reed was glaring at the screen.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I can't find what he was looking at."

"Security codes?" Ben offered. "That is unless you have some more stuff like photos."

"No, I keep the pictures on the computer in my room. I have never written the security codes down, the only person who knows them is me. It would take a psychic to find out what they were."

"So you've never said them out loud or anything."

"Never. I even enter the codes only when my body is shielding the mainframe from cameras."

"We have cameras in here?"

"Well of course, if anything ever happened we'd need to know how, when and why."

"So why don't you check the cameras to see what this runt looks like, at least then we can track him down."

"I did. He erased the footage without even touching the tapes." Reed said sadly.

"Fingerprints?" Ben offered.

"He wore gloves."

"Whoa, very professional." Ben was surprised; this guy was prepared for anything.

"Very. The more we discover the more worried I get. Younger than Johnny, has an ancient computer yet has access to top secret equipment and hacks like a pro." Reed deflated slowly. "I need a coffee." He announced and turned his computer off.

IN ANOTHER PART OF MANHATTAN

Victor von Doom sat back in his seat and inspected his reflection in the champagne glass he held. He was very pleased with what he saw. Mr Brown had done an excellent job with the holowatch. Victor looked down at the diamond Rolex on his wrist. He pressed a button and his pleasant appearance diminished. Victor looked in the glass at his shiny metal mask; he straightened his tie and pressed the same button again. He smiled yet again as his appearance reverted back to a more humane look.

"Leonard?" Leonard looked up.

"Yes sir?" Leonard looked up from his iBook.

"Call Mr Brown back. I have another request of him, I think it'll be an offer he couldn't refuse."

"Yes sir." Leonard picked up the limo phone and dialled a number. There was no answer.

"He's not picking up sir.'

"Very well, I guess we shall have to pay him another visit."

"Sir you have dinner with Ms Lane in fifteen minutes."

"Ah, of course. I guess he'll just have to wait until tomorrow."


	9. Too close for comfort

**Disclaimer: I only own Mr Brown.**

**Author's Note: Thank you for reviews, I actually don't have much to say, so I guess all I can say is read and review.**

When the Storm siblings returned to the Baxter Building a few hours later, they were both surprised at the gloomy atmosphere.

"Okay, what happened?" Sue asked. Reed and Ben were sitting on the sofa in the living room. The both of them seemed to be staring into space.

"Not much," Ben answered.

"The TV's always on when me or Ben are around. So why isn't the TV on?" Johnny asked worriedly.

"We need to cut back on electricity," Reed replied. The statement was true enough but irrelevant to the two friends' moods.

"So then why aren't you working Reed? You're always working…Oh my god, is it stalker guy again?" Johnny asked. Reed and Ben looked at each other.

"I knew it! He was being way too quiet." Johnny muttered angrily. "What's wrong?" he asked when he realised his sister was very quiet.

Sue sat down on the sofa and ran a hand through her hair.

"I thought he was…well I didn't think he was gone, I just thought he had lost interest."

"Stalkers don't just lose interest like that. What'd he do?" Johnny asked.

"We think he might have broken into our home," Reed said solemnly.

"What, here? He came in here?" Sue asked; her eyes were wide with fright.

"He was in Reed's office and everything. But the punk knew what he was doin' cos he erased the camera footage and managed to get rid of most of the evidence," Ben mumbled quietly.

"Camera footage? We have camera's in here?" Sue asked.

"How do you know he was here then?" Johnny asked.

"The security system was down," Reed replied.

"So he hacked into our security system, broke into our home and…and god knows what else he did," Sue looked like she was about to cry.

"But how can he do this? I mean Reed set them up! Reed's a genius, how can a random guy just walk in here undetected. How can he turn off our security without knowing any information or anything? Heck, we don't even know how to use the machines that protect us!"

"Calm down Johnny," Reed said softly.

"Calm down. CALM DOWN! Some crazy guy walked in here and nothing could stop him. You are like the smartest guy in the world but someone managed to outsmart you. Am I supposed to be pleased that the same guy has got some crazy obsession with my sister?" Johnny was almost shouting now.

"When did he come?" Sue asked.

"I think it was around 4am this morning." There was a tense silence; Ben decided to break it when an idea popped into his head.

"I think it would be best if Sue wasn't around for a while." Ben muttered. He looked up from his hands to see everyone was staring at him. "Think about it. We need to rethink our security and everything. I think it would be better if Sue weren't around until everything is fool proof. What if this guy has kidnapping on his agenda? He could walk in here, grab her and run. If we weren't around for some reason nothing could stop him."

"Well don't give him ideas! I bet he's watching us right now," Johnny scolded, he looked around nervously. "Ben might be right but we can't discuss it here," Johnny added.

"Okay, we should find somewhere quiet. Somewhere that isn't full of people…or cameras." Reed said, he stood up and stretched his arm to find a coat.

"I know a place," Ben offered.

"Anyway would be better than here," Sue muttered as she hugged herself tightly.

A few minutes later the Fantastic Four were sitting in the living room in the home of Alicia Masters. Alicia listened intently as Ben explained the situation.

"Well, you're always welcome here," Alicia said to Sue after Ben was finished.

"Sounds like a great idea to me," Johnny agreed.

"Would it be alright if she moved in right away?" Reed asked.

"I don't see why not," Alicia approved.

"So that's settled then. I'll take Sue back to pack her bags and bring her back here," Johnny said happily. "Wow, I feel so much better now."

VON DOOM INC. HEADQUATERS

Victor smiled as he entered his office. It had been almost two years since he last seen it. Victor headed straight for his chair; he sat down and sighed peacefully.

Leonard stood by the door watching him. The PA had ensured that nothing had been moved since Victor's departure. He had been the only one who had ever entered the room and he spent most of his time making sure it was cleaned to Victor's perfection. Most people had thought that it was loyalty and grief that drove Leonard to continue with the strenuous routine, a few were even certain that Victor himself was hidden away in the office.

For Leonard it all seemed to be worth it. To see his master's satisfaction gave him such an ego boost. As a fellow Latverian, Leonard knew he owed a lot to the man who kept his family in a nice house with an unlimited supply of food and water.

"Are the cameras still functioning?" Victor asked.

"Of course sir." Victor smiled at his assistant and picked up the remote on the arm of his chair. Victor pressed a button and the small TV screens lining the wall behind him buzzed to life. Victor turned to face the screens and looked at the screens. The Baxter Building, to his surprise, was not much different. Reed's laboratory, the living areas and even the hallways seemed to be as they were before. Movement in one of the screens caught Victor's eye. He looked at the screen closely and realised it was none other than Sue Storm… and she was packing. Victor cocked his head to one side and turned on the speakers to listen.

"Johnny! Johnny, where is that suitcase?" Sue shouted.

"I can't find it," came a loud reply.

"Did you check in the cupboard?"

"No."

"Then look!"

"Wait…found it!" Johnny appeared in the doorway holding a suitcase identical to the one Sue was already piling high with clothes.

"I hope you do realise you're only supposed to be packing the bare essentials," Johnny pointed out as he set the suitcase down at his feet and inspected his sister's clothes.

"These are the essentials," Sue grumbled as she tried to shut the first suitcase.

"It's only gonna be a couple of weeks, we can always bring stuff for you if you need it anyway."

"I know but the less you guys come and visit me the better," Sue grinned as the suitcase reluctantly snapped shut.

"Why? You don't want to see me?" Johnny asked.

"No, but how do we know my friend isn't going to follow you or something."

"Hey, I am a master of disguise. Nobody can follow me without getting seriously lost or confused." Sue raised one eyebrow.

"Are you forgetting that he hacked into a system that Reed set up?"

"Just because stalker guy can hack, doesn't mean he can follow me around."

"We'll just have to see, won't we?"

"Yes we will, I bet you-"

"Whoa, who said anything about betting? Save that stuff for Ben, I'm sure he'll be more than happy to win money from you,"

"Are you doubting my disguise powers?" Johnny asked.

"No Johnny. I think you are a master of disguise and will be just fine," Sue said sarcastically.

"You really know how to make me feel like crap, you know that?"

"And I take a lot of pleasure out of it," Sue smirked as Johnny scowled at her. She suddenly became serious, "But I'm not joking. Don't waltz into you know who's apartment every five minutes just because you miss me."

"Please, I won't miss you that much."

"Of course not," Sue muttered mockingly.

Victor leaned back in his chair and smirked. It didn't take a genius to know why Sue was packing.

"Leonard, try and call Mr Brown again. Tell him to meet me here tomorrow, I have something even more interesting for him."


	10. A deal he can't refuse

**Disclaimer: I only own 'The man' or 'the young man' as I call him in this chappy. **

**Author's note: Thank you for reviews, this chapter is all about SG aka Stalker Guy. Enjoy!**

"Mr Brown? Mr Von Doom will see you now." The young man gulped quietly and stood up. He had been trying to catch up on some sleep when he had received a phone call from Leonard. Leonard had insisted that he came to Von Doom headquarters the next day and that it was in his best interests. The man opened the huge mahogany double doors leading to Victor's office.

Victor was sitting in his 'throne'; standing on his right side was Leonard with a smug look on his face. The man didn't like that look. Victor smirked as the young man approached.

"Mr Brown, glad you could make it," The man immediately became suspicious of Victor's informal tone. He noted that he also sounded like his old self.

"I just wanted to show you something. Now I'm sure your Baxter Building cameras are working perfectly but I'm sure you were a bit busy at 1600 hours yesterday."

"Yeah I was."

'Just as I thought, please, sit down." The man did a double take as Victor got out of his own chair and offered it to him. Even Leonard seemed a little confused. The man slowly approached the chair and sat down warily.

"Comfortable?" Victor asked. The man nodded slowly. "Leonard, play the tape." Leonard, still looking a little bewildered, pressed a button on Victor's remote and watched as a familiar scene graced all the television screens. As the tape played Sue packing her bags Leonard watched his master. He hated the way he was never told half of the plans, only ever the role he would play. Victor was watching the screens with a smirk on his face; every so often he would glance down at Mr Brown, who seemed slightly confused.

"I don't get it," the young man said loudly as the tape finished. Victor gave a false laugh and smiled down at his guest.

"Do you remember when you refused to help me last week?" The man nodded slowly. "Well because of that I was forced to try and break into the Baxter Building myself. Unfortunately I do not have your expertise and I was unable to reset the security. Dr Richards discovered that the machines had been tampered with and assumed the culprit…was you."

"But that's impossible, I would never do that! I'm not a criminal-"

"Yes but they don't know that. They think you are a scary little man who is stalking their friend. They have decided to remove Sue from the penthouse until it is secure again and they are certain that 'you' will never be able to walk into their home and workplace again." Victor gave the man a sympathetic look as he stared sorrowfully into space.

"Why would they think that?"

"They would think that because they don't know you."

"So you brought me here to tell me this?" The man was both suspicious and angry.

"Actually it was a favour that I needed to ask but I thought this might interest you. You see I have plans for the Fantastic Four. All of them, except Susan, are going to suffer but I cannot reveal my presence until I am ready. I cannot be ready without knowing my enemy. When I reveal myself I give my word to you now that I will put in a good word for you and hand deliver Susan to your feet. All I need for you to do is to do what I say and she will be yours. What do you say?" The man almost laughed. Victor was so certain that he had him backed into a corner; he thought he would agree not because he wanted to but because he had to.

"No," the man said loudly. "Now if you'll excuse me I have a reputation to fix." The man made a move to stand up but Victor pushed him back down.

"This isn't optional. You can merely choose a nicer path." Victor growled.

"I said no," the man knew he was going to regret his choice but he knew that Sue wouldn't possibly like him if she knew he was behind the downfall of her own brother. Victor cocked his head to one side and sighed.

"Very well, your choice." Victor turned around and proceeded to leave the room. The man sat stunned for a few seconds, he turned to face Leonard who he was surprised to see was wearing a gas mask. The man's eyes widened as Leonard pressed a button and a hiss filled the room. _GAS! _The man pulled his t-shirt over his mouth. He glanced around worriedly for a few seconds. At first he thought he was safe but then he slowly began to feel drowsy, he stood up and tried to make his way towards the door. As he was half way to his goal his vision became blurred and the world started to sway. _Crap._ He collapsed in a heap on the floor.

Leonard grinned beneath his mask and walked over to the man. He checked his pulse and dragged him out of the other exit. Victor watched through a one-way mirror. He grinned and went to join Leonard.

When the young man awoke he was surprised to find himself in a small room. It had a bed, sink and toilet. A copy of the bible and Latverian history lay on top of a bedside table. It closely resembled a prison cell. If the man could not see the Latverian book he would've assumed he was being left to rot in jail. He was surrounded on three sides by the wall but one side was made entirely of glass.

Behind the glass stood Victor, he stood up straight with his hands behind his back. Victor smirked when he noticed his captive was awake. The younger man glared at his captor.

"Let me out," he growled.

"You will be released when I have no more use of you. In the meantime I think you will find yourself very comfortable. If you look in your little table I think you will find a useful way of keeping yourself entertained. I shall feed you regularly and a shower is at the end of this hall; you shall be let out daily to use it. If you require different clothes all you need to do is ask. I had some slightly more comfortable lodgings for you but it seems you prefer this. I shall be back soon." Victor did a 90-degree turn and walked off.

The man glared at Victor as he walked off before rushing to the bedside table. He muttered under his breath as he searched the drawers for his 'luxury'. He found himself grinning manically as he pulled out a smooth silver Powerbook. He sat down on the bed and pressed the power button. His smile grew as it switched on. _Maybe this won't be so bad after all._


	11. He's everywhere

**Disclaimer: I only own SG…or CG, maybe even PG!**

**Author's note: I haven't got much to say apart from I am scared silly. So if you have decided to run away and are reading this, (Babe you know who you are) CALL ME! There are other solutions.**

**And on a lighter note thanks for all the reviews, on with the story.**

Sue was enjoying her time with Alicia. It was nice to sit back and relax without worrying about Johnny bursting or arguing with Ben. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy living with her brother; it was just impossible to have peace when he was around. If he was around and the apartment was quiet then something was wrong which meant Sue couldn't relax, only worry.

"Worrying again?" Alicia asked as she entered the kitchen. Sue laughed.

"Just enjoying the fact that I don't have to. I've actually forgotten what it's like to just relax. Maybe I should get my own apartment,"

"Don't be silly. I know you don't mean that! Living away from your husband? And what about leaving Johnny alone? Last night you said you liked the idea of knowing he's not getting himself into trouble." Alicia smirked slightly and poured herself a drink. Sue was amazed at how easily and quickly she poured the orange juice without spilling a drop.

"I've had years of practise," Alicia answered. Sue blushed as she realised she was talking about the drink.

"Sorry," she mumbled sheepishly.

"It's okay. But seriously, don't worry about the boys,"

"It's not them I'm worried about," Sue admitted quietly, just loud enough for Alicia to hear. Alicia cocked her head to one side sympathetically.

"I'm sure it is just a silly prank," she said soothingly.

"Yeah, a very sick prank," Sue, said bitterly.

"You do have all kinds of sickish people out there. Think about it Sue, you're a celebrity, they face these things all the time."

"I don't want to be a celebrity," Sue moaned. "I just want to live a normal life and as normal human being,"

"Now I know you're crazy," Alicia said with a smile. "You have been given one of the greatest gifts of all time and you're telling me you hate it. Do you know how many people would kill to be in your position? You are a role model for girls and women everywhere, you have to be proud of that."

"I know," Sue mumbled obediently.

"Look, the boys are working as hard as they can. They're no more worried about it than you are and you are going to be fine." Sue wished that she could find consolation in Alicia's words. Alicia smiled comfortingly and left the room.

Sue's gloomy silence was broken by the slam of a door and cheerful voices. Sue smiled slightly and left the kitchen to see the visitors. Ben and Johnny stood in the doorway, both with big smiles on their faces.

"What?" Sue asked suspiciously.

"No hi, how are you," Johnny asked mockingly.

"Well you're both smiling so much I just kinda…well it makes me feel uneasy." Sue admitted.

"Well why be sad? So SG is still at large, it doesn't mean the world is gonna end," Johnny said happily.

"SG?" Sue asked.

"Stands for stalker guy. The kid's been using it all the time," Ben muttered with a glare in Johnny's direction. Johnny pulled a face.

"Well what else can we call him?" Johnny asked innocently.

"Don't go through the list again," Ben grumbled. "He's been thinking of nicknames for that creep all day," he explained at Sue and Alicia's confused looks.

"Well I think CG is pretty good too," Johnny suggested.

"Let me guess, creepy guy?" Alicia asked.

"This lady knows her initials," Johnny pointed out.

"Where's Reed?" Sue asked, desperate to change the subject.

"Kicked us out cos he didn't want anyone to know the security codes. He's worried we'll get kidnapped one day and spill to save our selves." Johnny explained.

"So coming to visit was pretty much at the bottom of your to do list today," Sue concluded dejectedly.

"No!" Johnny said quickly. "Ben wanted to see Alicia,"

"And you?"

"Okay so I had nothing else to do but I did wanna come and see you."

"Kid's tellin' the truth. He's been dying to see you all day," Ben said with a smirk.

"I haven't!" Johnny exclaimed, clearly mortified by Ben's revelation. "Not that I didn't want to see you," he added quickly to his sister. Sue smiled, she knew Ben was telling the truth; after all Johnny had visited a number of times since she had temporarily moved in with Ben's girlfriend.

VON DOOM TOWERS

SG sat on his bed, hunched over the latest Apple Powerbook. His fingers flew across the keyboard. What he was doing was anybody's guess. His mystery work was interrupted as Victor's smug face flashed onto the screen.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," SG scowled, Victor had that annoying false smile plastered on his face again.

"No not at all," he replied through gritted teeth. He had decided it would be best to be polite to the man who was providing him with food.

"Fantastic. Then I believe now is the best time to brief you on your mission. Now as much as I would like to run through everything with you I have a meeting with my old co-workers. I think you'll find everything is explained in great detail in a Microsoft word document I have entitled: Mission brief."

"How imaginative," SG muttered under his breath.

"After you have read the document ring the bell and request the materials and tools you require."

"What bell?" The man looked around his sparsely furnished lodgings.

"The one beside your bed," It was Victor' turn to speak through gritted teeth. He had thought the young man would have noticed everything in the plain room. After all the bell wasn't camouflaged. "As I was saying, ring the bell when you have finished the reading. You will also be given the profiles of your…targets,"

"Targets? You want me to spy on people?"

"Actually your mission is more…construction based. Read the document, I have a meeting." The screen went blank for a few seconds. When the computer came back to life Victor's document dominated the screen.The prisoner reluctantly began to read.

AND AT ALICIA'S APARTMENT

Johnny and Sue stood on the balcony watching the world go by below them. Ben and Alicia had left for a meal leaving the siblings to keep each other company.

"Has Reed been to see Franklin every day?" Sue asked for the umpteenth time.

"How many times do I have to tell you, yes," Johnny muttered impatiently.

"This is killing me. Not going out I mean, the hospital staff must think I'm a terrible mother." Johnny looked at his sister and noticed she was staring anxiously at a nearby hospital.

"Well A, now you know how I feel when you put me on lockdown-"

"Lockdown?" Sue asked.

"When you don't allow we out," Johnny explained and quickly. "And B, as far as the world knows you have a chest infection and can't go near a premature ward or you'll kill all the babies."

"I know but I don't think it really would hurt to go and see my son."

"Yeah well it wasn't my idea for you to go into hiding. Look, if all you're gonna do is moan and worry then I'm out," Johnny glanced at his sister as he spoke. She wasn't listening.

"Fine," he muttered under his breath and headed for the front door. It took Sue a moment to realise she was alone.

"Johnny?" she called out, there was no reply. "Johnny?"

She deflated and went into the kitchen. A small smile crept over her face as she heard the excited voices of a sports commentator. She walked into the living room to see Johnny sprawled out over the sofa; she moved his leg and sat down beside him.

"There's a letter for you on the TV," Johnny said lazily.

"How do you know?" Sue asked suspiciously.

"I looked." Sue froze. How could someone send her anything? They had no idea she was here.

"Who did you tell?" she asked her brother warily. Johnny gave Sue a confused look.

"About me being here?" she explained desperately.

"Oh, nobody. Why?"

"How can someone send me stuff if they don't know where I am." Johnny sat up straighter and glanced at the cream envelope protruding over the edge of the television.

"He wouldn't," Johnny said reassuringly. Sue stood up and walked over to the television. She inhaled sharply as she recognised the neat handwriting her full name was written in. Slowly Sue picked it up and carefully opened it.

_Dear Susan,_

_You didn't have to go through such drastic measures because, as you can see, they haven't worked. This isn't really working out the way I had hoped it would, you really don't need to be afraid because I would never, ever, hurt you. And please tell your brother that I'm flattered that he spends so much time pondering me but his nicknames are getting a little annoying. I'm not a stalker. I'm not creepy and I am definitely not perverted._

Sue scrunched up the letter in her hand.

"What'd it say?" Johnny asked carefully. Sue threw the letter at him and left the room. Johnny frowned and opened up the paper ball, he scanned the letter and smirked. He hadn't thought of the name PG.


	12. A few thoughts

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Fantastic four, Victor von Doom and Alicia Masters. The Baxter Building and Von Doom towers aren't mine either, just to be on the safe side.**

**Author's note: I couldn't write anything so I decided to do some SG talking; if that makes sense. Probably doesn't but oh well. Next chapter I think we'll start to see Victor's plot come together. Thanks for the reviews, Enjoy!**

_I never really understood Victor's plans but now they all make sense. I must say they are pretty clever. I don't know why I never really thought about doing them myself; after all it is an amazing opportunity to get closer to Susan than anyone else. I begged him to let me carry out this duty but he said I was far too inexperienced. _

_He has, however, rewarded me for my hard work. No more sitting in that dull white room. My new employer has me living in a top of the line hotel suite connected to Von Doom Towers. I can see the whole city from my bedroom window and more importantly the Baxter building. Victor has reunited me with my computer and my connection to the Baxter Building security system. He even lets me walk freely around the city; I fear he does not trust me enough though as he is watching me at all times. Someone always accompanies me when I leave the building and my emails and phone calls are filtered as not to reveal any of his plans. He believes I will call the Fantastic Four and tell them what they need to know. No chance. I'm still unhappy with the way they broke into my home, I'm sure Susan is quite unaware of their capers. _

_It's funny. Before I was in the firm belief that Victor was wrong. And maybe he is, maybe Susan will hate me when she discovers the part I played in the plot but with Victor's kind words and my poetry I am sure to quickly have her in my arms. The male members of the Fantastic Four are unbelievably repulsive and do not treat her well. They care about her enough but not to the extent they should. I watched them this morning, lying around, thankful that there is no one to nag them yet sad that they have to do all the housework. That is not the way to treat a goddess such as Mrs Richards. _

_I am currently trying to find out more about Victor's plans and whether he intends to make the invisible woman a widow. He only tells me they will suffer greatly for publicly humiliating him several times and plans to make them suffer the same fate. I told him it would be much better if he made them lose the things they loved the most, like Dr Richards did with Victor's business. I think he has taken my plan into consideration; I have already drawn up brainstorms, tactics and observed the targets._

_I told Leonard of my plans but he simply turned his nose up. He is currently in a sulk because Victor chose his adoptive son to carry out some very important tasks. Phillip von Doom. I think he is quite nice but Leonard is offended that Victor calls him his number two. I think Leonard was always under the impression that he was the right hand man. _

_Victor says me and Phillip will be working very closely in the future, I am looking forward to the prospect very much._

ALICIA'S FLAT

Sue bit back tears as she quickly stuffed her belongings into her suitcases. _This isn't happening, _she chanted in her head but her mantra wasn't working. But how could it happen? Unless one of the boys had said something about her being with Alicia while they were in the Baxter Building, how would SG know? Maybe it was a rough guess. For all she knew there could be identical letters at several places across the state. Sue took a few deep breaths and counted to ten. It was normally an exercise she used to calm down after a confrontation with her brother but now she needed it for otherwise.

"Sue? Sue?" Johnny walked around the flat searching for his sister. He walked into the room in which she was sleeping.

"Sue?" Johnny stopped at the door and bit his lip as he realised what his sister was doing. "Sue you don't have to-"

"I do," she replied tersely.

"Once Reed is finished with the whole defence stuff all this will stop. Just give him another day."

"Me staying here is a waste of time. I bet that when I move back in there'll be a letter beside my bed saying welcome back. So you know what? I am gonna just move back in and ignore SG." Johnny grinned slightly. _My names are catching on pretty quick. _

"Listen Sue, this new thing is foolproof, trust me. You shoulda seen some of the stuff Reed ordered. I'm talking full on weapons," Johnny said enthusiastically. Sue glanced at her brother sharply.

"Weapons?" Sue asked.

"Yeah! There is no SG is gonna walk in when he's staring down the nose of a sniper rifle," Johnny said excitedly.

"He'll probably know the password to shut them down," Sue muttered sadly. "It's not safe for me to be here with Alicia, what if something happened to her?"

"SG isn't interested in Alicia. If he was it would be her getting those cards," Johnny said soothingly.

"I don't want her to walk into a room and discover SG delivering a card. What if he attacked her?"

"That's a good point but are you sure he would attack a blind woman? Especially when she can't identify or recognise him," Johnny pointed out. Sue sighed.

"It's a chance I'm not willing to take," Sue stated. Johnny looked down at the carpet; he knew he couldn't change his sister's mind. Nothing on Earth could.


	13. A suspicious visit

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognise from the film or comics.**

**Author's note: Not much to say apart from thanks for reviews. This is kinda short and there are probably mistakes but what can I do? I'm tired ok? Enjoy.**

Jimmy O'Hoolihan glanced up and down the street from underneath the safety of the awning. Rain splattered down in front of him. Although it was raining tourists were huddled under umbrellas and gazing at the double doors behind him, all of them were eager to get a glimpse of the world's first superheroes. It amazed Jimmy that the crowds never seemed to cease, he had always thought that the novelty would eventually wear off.

Jimmy raised his eyebrows as a sleek and shiny black limousine pulled up at the curb. Three men promptly stepped out; all three of them were carrying black umbrellas. Jimmy instantly recognised one of the men as Leonard, assistant of the late Victor Von Doom. Jimmy nodded a greeting and opened the door for the three people. Leonard glanced briefly and smiled but the others simply ignored him. Jimmy scowled briefly, people like them made him wonder why he bothered to become a doorman.

It was fifteen long minutes before the men left the building. The rain had stopped and the crowd of tourists had grown immensely. Jimmy held the door open for the three men as they left. He frowned when he realised that the other two was supporting one of them. Sensing his stare Leonard turned around and shrugged.

"He just collapsed," Leonard explained briefly. "But he's alive," he added quickly after Jimmy gave him a strange look.

Almost the second the limousine left the crowds began to scream. Jimmy opened the doors and nodded at the famous siblings walking down the 'catwalk' as Johnny had named it. He raised one eyebrow when he noticed Johnny was dragging two identical suitcases. Johnny shrugged and trotted off his distressed sister.

The siblings went straight into the lift.

"Looks like everyone's happy to have you back," Johnny said with a grin.

"They didn't know I was gone," Sue replied tersely. Johnny's smile faded.

"Are gonna be so moody all the time now?" Johnny asked.

"No."

"Then stop being so…so snappy," Johnny retorted.

"I'm not snappy," Sue said defensively. Johnny raised one eyebrow.

The lift doors swung open and the siblings stepped out.

"Home sweet home," Johnny muttered sarcastically.

Reed sat hunched over SG's yearbook. He smirked slightly as he turned the pages.

"Hey Reed! 'Sup?" Johnny greeted as he dumped the suitcases in the middle of the room.

"Not much?" Reed muttered with out looking up. He frowned as someone put his or her arms around his neck. A dopey grin crossed his face as he inhaled the familiar aroma of his wife's favourite perfume.

"I thought you were going to stay with Alicia?" he asked.

"Something came up. Johnny took a crumpled piece of paper out of his back pocket and threw it on Reed's desk. Reed frowned and opened it, he scanned the handwritten letter quickly.

"When did this happen?" he asked.

"It was on top of Alicia's TV," Johnny replied before leaving the room. Reed looked up at his wife.

"But how?" Reed asked.

"I don't know," Sue sighed. "All I know is that there's no hiding from this guy so I may as well face the music." Sue sat down on the edge of the desk. "Johnny tells me you've put weapons in our security system."

"Yes, as long as our friend knows they're there he'll most likely stay away…You do know this won't stop the cards, don't you?" Sue looked down at her nails.

"I know. He can still come into the building too but there's no chance he's getting in here."

'Exactly." Reed put his hand on his wife's knee. "Everything is going to be fine, for all we know he might start to get careless and leave a few more clues."

The red yearbook in front of Reed caught Sue's eye.

"What's this?" she asked as she picked it up to inspect it.

"You remember when I traced that camera link to that apartment?" Reed asked.

"Yeah, course," Sue flipped it open at a random page and frowned as she looked at the photos covered in neat legible handwriting. She sat up straighter, she instantly recognised the neatly drawn lettered.

"This is his isn't it?" Sue asked, not taking her eyes off the book.

"We picked it up when we visited his home," Reed explained.

"And?" Sue asked. "Did it help? Because I hope you realise he'll probably do anything to get it back and leave a few presents while he's at it!"

"It's useless," Reed admitted quietly.

"So why is it still here?" Sue asked. "God no wonder he was here the other day. Reed this is stolen property!" Sue threw it down on the table. "Put it back," she muttered over her shoulder as she left the room. Reed sat back in his chair and sighed, _well that went well. _


	14. Realisation

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters you recognise. I shall kill anyone who comes out with "That Phoebe Brown girl sounds familiar," cos she's mine. ALL MINE!**

**Author's note: Thank you very much for all the reviews you guys have sent my way. It makes me happy. So happy. I'm finding less and less to ramble on about each chapter, it's getting kinda annoying now. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.**

Ben, Sue and Johnny stood scattered around the laboratory. Ben was looking out the window at the cloudy grey sky, Sue was admiring an exotic plant and Johnny stood in a corner talking on his phone. Reed entered the room with an energized smile on his face.

"Oh good, you're all here," he said loudly. The other three looked up from their activities and joined him in the centre of the room.

"Yeah I know! Uh huh…are you sure? … Nah, that's not possible…it really isn't." Sue glanced at her brother warningly as he continued to have a very animated conversation with his friend.

"I'll call you back," he said reluctantly and hung up without waiting for a reply.

"You do know your friend can't see your face or see your hand movements don't you?" Ben asked with mock worry in his voice. Johnny pulled a face and turned his attention to Reed.

"What's up then? You interrupted a pretty good chat," Johnny said, trying hard to ignore Ben's smirk.

"Yeah, I gotta go and meet Alicia in twenty minutes," Ben said, he was still laughing silently at Johnny's lack of an answer to his question.

"I've made something that I think will be quite important for us," Reed announced. He produced a test tube rack from behind his back. In the rack were four test tubes; all of them contained the same volume of a suspiciously green liquid.

"What's that?" Johnny asked.

"This is-"

"And in English," Ben grumbled. Reed scowled but listened to Ben anyway.

"This is what I guess you could call a power boost-"

"Power boost?" Sue asked.

"Why'd we need that?" Ben asked.

"I was just getting to that," Reed said crossly. "I think we need to sharpen up our skills a little, something's coming. I don't know what but I know it'll be big."

"Like what?" Johnny asked curiously.

"Well let's just say we haven't received any Latverian hate mail for the past three weeks," Reed said solemnly. The four had been sent endless piles of hate mail from the Latverian community since Doom's defeat and it had up until three weeks ago still been coming in large numbers.

"None at all?" Sue asked. "Not even a single letter? Are you sure they haven't filtered it out or there's a problem with overseas post?"

"I'm absolutely certain, I spoke to Willie and he says post is in regular order."

"But what has that got to do with anything?" Ben asked.

"Well what could possibly silence the Latverians in such a way? There aren't any restricting laws." Ben's eyes widened as it dawned on him.

"And ya know, Jimmy said Leonard was hanging around here the other day too," Ben said in astonishment.

"When was this?" Reed asked.

"This morning," Ben replied quietly.

"I don't get it." Everyone turned to look at Johnny. "The only thing that would be able to please them would be if Doom was up and running again…oh."

"Yes Johnny, do you understand now or would you like to go back to your little colouring book?" Ben asked mockingly.

"Yeah well you didn't catch on very quickly either," Johnny retorted. "So how does this thing work?" Johnny asked, turning his attention back to Reed.

"Well, this concoction should make us stronger. We need to be prepared when Victor finally reveals himself to us."

"But how?" Johnny asked.

"This right here contains a few parts of the cosmic storm. I managed to tear it apart and take out the important components."

"Does it have any side effects?" Johnny asked. Sue frowned at her brother's serious attitude.

"Are you seriously thinking of taking this?" she asked her brother.

"Why not?" Johnny asked in surprise.

"Because you don't need it. None of us do. We managed to take out Victor and other people like this, I think we can do it again. You know what? I don't even think, I know!"

"Suzie's right. We're a team, any stronger and we could get a little… well, ya know, destructive," Ben agreed.

"Exactly," Sue said with a triumphant smile. "What would happen if we couldn't control our new strength? Ben wouldn't be able to touch anyone, Reed's limbs could randomly shoot out and hit someone, I might start sending out force fields and you could randomly burst into flame. We wouldn't be able to go near other people, are you telling me you want that?" Sue asked. She had her game face on meaning she was ready to do anything to prove her point.

"No I'm telling you I wanna be ready and be able to fight. Sue you've never had to back down from a fight before. Where we were fighting Namour I spent most of the time sitting by the beach waiting for you guys to come back and tell me how it went. Do you have any idea what that was like?"

"I was pregnant while we fought Galactus! I had to run and hide!"

"Yeah well at least something good came out of it and anyway we didn't even get to fight Galactus. Alicia did it all with a few words." The siblings glared at each other.

"Reed destroy that thing," Sue commanded.

"I didn't make it to be destroyed, it'll take-"

"I don't care! Just get rid of it…and quickly," Sue ordered before leaving the room.

Johnny glared at his sister until she disappeared from sight and reached out for the test tubes. He scowled as his hand hit a well-placed force field.

"I'm serious," Sue said from the doorway. "Don't even think about it."

Johnny glared at his sister and stormed off towards the lift. Sue sighed and watched him walk away, she looked at Reed.

"What made you think we needed a boost?" she asked.

"I just want us to be prepared. Doom is going to take us by surprise anyway but I want to make sure we can get out of any traps he leaves for us," Reed explained. Sue walked up to her husband and put her arms around his shoulders, Ben took it as his cue to leave.

"Listen. We're strong enough already; I want to have our son in a normal, un-enhanced house where we have complete control over our powers. It's taken us a good couple of years to get everything under control; we don't need to upset the balance." Sue kissed her husband lightly.

"Okay but I don't think Johnny's taking it very well," Reed advised.

"He'll get over it," Sue muttered dismissively. She kissed Reed again and left the room. Reed sighed and slumped down in a nearby chair.

Johnny tried to blend in with the New York Crowd as he stood one block away from the Baxter Building. He had time to burn before his sister would be convinced he was at a bar somewhere and not about to sneak in. Johnny admired the busty blonde on the other side of the shop window. Her pretty and pink appearance screamed superficial but Johnny wasn't bothered. He smiled flirtatiously as their eyes met; the girl smiled back and fluttered her eyelashes before disappearing into the millions of clothes racks. Johnny toyed with the idea of going after, he glanced at his phone; he had a good fifteen minutes before he would officially become unsuspicious to his sister. _Why not? _Johnny walked into the clothes shop and searched the racks for his latest Barbie. He smirked as she came into view, he snuck up behind.

"Hey," he muttered. The girl jumped and turned around, she smiled as she recognised him.

"Hi," she immediately started to play with her hair. Johnny's smile grew slightly; this was going to be easy.

"I'm Johnny. Johnny Storm."

"Phoebe Logan. Would you like to take me out by any chance?" Phoebe asked.

"If your lucky."

"Well luck is usually my thing."

"Well maybe you just so happen to be right cos there's a new club opening tomorrow night and I was looking for someone to go with," Johnny raised his eyebrows as he spoke.

"And I just so happen to have a free evening. Call me." She handed Johnny a slip of paper with a mobile number scrawled on it. She had obviously known Johnny would come after her. She smiled and walked off leaving Johnny to feel very pleased with himself.

Reed sat at his desk and stared at the notes in front of him. Getting rid of dangerous liquids was a lot harder than his wife probably thought. It wasn't how to get rid of it; it was where to put it. No dump was safe, to put it in water would be a selfish act and he couldn't just evaporate it and hope it wouldn't condense around someone.

"Want me to lighten your load?" Reed looked up from his papers to see Johnny.

"I thought you went out?"

"I did."

"Wait, what do you mean lighten the load?" Reed asked suspiciously.

"I'm talking about the power boost," Johnny whispered loudly. "I know you can't get rid of it just like that. It would be a little easier if I gave you less to worry about."

"Johnny I promised your sister I wouldn't give it to you," Reed said reluctantly.

"She doesn't have to know. All you have do is give me a tube, refill it with water and add food colouring. Sue's not gonna know the difference. Please Reed! You spent so long working on that, don't you wanna test it?" Johnny asked hopefully. Reed pressed his lips together and looked at the test tube rack beside him.

"She'll never know," Johnny promised. "And when I get stronger you can just come out with all this crap about our powers evolving…due to exposure to the contained cloud. You guys made me dismantle your machine the other day and you can say I didn't do something properly."

"I don't know," Reed said doubtfully.

"Please!" Johnny begged. It took a few more suggestions and pleases until Reed finally caved in.

"Please don't tell your sister," Reed said as he handed a tube over. Johnny nodded, took a deep breath and downed the contents of the tube. It smelled like suspiciously like a sterdent **(A/N: Eurgh! Ever smelt them? Well if you haven't you are VERY lucky. Anyway, on with the story.)**

"Tastes like soup," Johnny muttered, he frowned as his vision suddenly became very hazy.

"Really? I was experimenting with different flavours…what's wrong?" Reed suddenly became concerned when he noticed the funny look on his brother in law's face. Johnny shook his head.

"Nothing," he muttered.

"Are you sure? Is it the flavours?" Johnny tried to concentrate on what Reed was saying but his words didn't make any sense. Johnny suddenly felt very dizzy and light headed. He thought he heard Reed call his name several times before everything went black.


	15. Warning

**Disclaimer: I own SG and Barbara even though I mention her name like once.**

**Author's note: WHOA! No joke here, my internet has been bust for the past couple of days and the ICT teachers are kinda stingy so I haven't been on Fanfiction for a few days. I was pretty surprised to see I had 7 new reviews, 6 for this chappy. So thank you very much for those. I warn you this chapter isn't the best but I'm tryna get to the good bits.**

_Uh oh, where am I? Sue's gonna kill me…wait…this place looks familiar. _Johnny's vision slowly regained focus. _Well of course it's familiar, it's your room. _Johnny though sarcastically as he sat up and glanced around his bedroom. He grinned as recent events flooded his memory. _Oh yeah! I'm gonna be a super, super superhero! _

"Johnny?" Johnny glanced up to see Reed standing in the doorway. "I was just coming to check up on you, how're you feeling?" Reed asked.

"I'm fine,' Johnny muttered groggily.

"Are you sure because the last time you said that you passed out," Reed said with a smirk.

"I'm sure, where are Sue and Ben?" Johnny asked.

"Sue's gone shopping and Ben is visiting Alicia. Are you sure you're feeling okay? You were unconscious for four hours."

"Four hours!" Johnny looked at the clock beside his bed and cursed loudly. "I'm late," he muttered.

"For?" Reed asked.

"Oh wouldn't you like to know," Johnny said with a smirk as he put on his leather jacket and grabbed a pair of trainers.

"A date?" Reed guessed.

"Actually no. Later," Johnny left Reed to ponder the young man's destination.

Sue walked through the revolving doors with a number of shopping bags; she had decided to grab the opportunity to update her wardrobe with something other than maternal wear. Sue watched her brother suspiciously as he bounced out of the lift. Johnny nodded at his sister as he walked past her in the lobby. She frowned and stopped him.

"Why so happy?" she asked suspiciously. Johnny tapped the side of his nose, smirked and left the building. Sue watched him leave suspiciously. _He has so taken that power boost. _ Sue was ready to storm into the lab and force a confession out of Reed when she got the odd feeling that she was being watched. Sue looked around self consciously, the lobby held the usual occupants: Jimmy and Barbara the receptionist. Nothing looked unusual or out of place. Sue carried on walking to the lift but stopped when she reached it, she was still being watched. Sue glanced up at the railings on the first floor just in time to see someone disappear. He or She was moving fast, suspiciously fast.

Sue headed for the stairs and quickly ran up them. By the time she reached the first floor it was completely empty. Sue looked up and down the deserted corridors only to find nothing. She was about to go to the lift when she got the strange feeling again, Sue turned around and noticed the door to the stairwell was swinging. Sue smirked slightly and went through the door.

She listened to the echo of footsteps; her mystery person seemed to be sprinting upwards. Sue decided it would be best to follow. Along the way she didn't notice any door movements. After a while she couldn't even hear the person walking or running anymore. She deflated disappointedly and decided it would be wise to accept the fact that she had lost her 'target'.

She glanced at a nearby sign and slightly shocked to see she was on the 34th floor and just how out of breath she was. _Wow what a workout. _Slowly and wearily she climbed the final flight of stairs.

When she reached the top she took a moment to breathe. She closed her eyes and leaned against the railing. When she finally opened her eyes her line of sight hit a cream envelope stuck on the door. Sue's blood ran cold as she recognised the writing and realised the letter was for her. Sue walked over to the door and pulled the envelope down and ripped it open. She frowned when she read the single sentence written on the letter inside, if not for the envelope she wouldn't know whom it was for or whom it was from. She also noted that the handwriting wasn't written neatly in italics but had been quickly scrawled. The letter read:

_Don't trust anyone._

Sue pondered the sentence, why would anyone tell her that? _Unless they know something I don't!_ Sue pushed the door open and ran to tell her husband.

"Reed!" she yelled as she ran into the laboratory.

"Sue!" she heard her husband cry.

"Guess what?" they said simultaneously.

"You first," Reed said excitedly.

"You were right, something's up and SG knows about it. I just found this," Sue thrust the letter in her husband's hands. "You do know what this means don't you? It means that we'll know what's coming and there is absolutely no need for your power boost." She said excitedly. Reed's face fell slightly before becoming an excited grin.

"Well I think you'll like my news better," he said smugly.

"Oh really?" Sue asked. "Well, what is it? Spill!" She commanded.

"The hospital called. We can go and collect Franklin!" Reed gushed. Sue's jaw dropped and her smile widened to an impossible length.

"You're kidding!"

"Nope. They said we could go and get him any time," Reed said, his smile was impossibly wide too.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

VON DOOM TOWERS

_I feel an odd sense of happiness knowing that the baby is coming home. I have no idea why; I obviously have no connections with it. Maybe the idea that it might one day call me Daddy is causing this. Victor promises the day will come a lot quicker than I have anticipated; he has a few more tricks up his sleeve that he is refusing to share. _

_He has, as promised, decided to go along with my offer. With my knowledge we can make the others lose their most prized 'possessions'. Some are slightly harder than others but as I said earlier to Victor: 'One down, two to go'. That's right. It's already started and they haven't even realised. I guess that is why I decided to give them a little push; this game seems slightly unfair. _

_I sent Sue a letter telling her to be careful, she's bound to listen to me. Victor of course will not be pleased but he should understand. After all she is the love of my life and I cannot sit and watch her life crumble without offering her some kind of support. _

_It just hit me. Victor's plot will kill her, on the inside I mean. Everything she cares about will be gone, her family, friends and her life. She'll have the baby but…it's still the beginning of the end for her. What am I doing? She would never love me if she knew I was the one who helped to cause her such pain. But then again who says she has a choice._


	16. Suspicions

**Disclaimer: The Fantastic Four, their friends and enemies all belong to Stan Lee. Let us all worship him for his great creativity. **

**Author's note: Thank you very much for reviews, it makes me happy. I need encouragement right now; I've had a bad day and scribbled this down during an unimportant lesson. I would rant on but I'll either a) regret it or b) bore you to death. Besides the rant is centred around a certain person who I shall probably make friends with again at the end of the week. Curse my kindness. Anyway, enough about me, enjoy!**

Johnny rolled his eyes as Sue walked in front of the television again.

"Hello, tryna watch something here," Johnny said loudly. Sue stopped talking and glared at her brother.

"Shush!" She whispered loudly. "He's trying to sleep," she gestured to the small bundle in her arms.

"Yeah well you don't have to stand in my way," Johnny muttered just loud enough for his sister to hear.

"It helps me keep a clear head," Sue said in a matter of fact tone.

"How wonderful for you," Johnny said sarcastically. "I think it's great how you tell me I'm self centred and then sacrifice other's pleasure so you can keep calm."

"Well I think the one thing we can agree on is that a person thinks about themselves first and then others, except you don't think about others do you?" Sue stopped walking directly in front of Johnny.

"Yeah well we are living in a very big penthouse and this area isn't the only place to walk around."

"It's quiet," Sue said with a smirk.

"Oh really?" Johnny asked, Sue gave him a warning look, which he ignored. Johnny reached for the remote and pressed the volume button. The two siblings glared at each other, both daring the other to take it one step further. Soon the annoying voice of a sports commentator blasted through the room and Sue quickly retreated.

"You are so gonna regret that," she mouthed over her shoulder. Johnny shrugged mockingly and leaned back in the sofa. _Ah, I love it. _Johnny had taken to challenging his team-mates quite often when he was bored or annoyed.

"Ya gonna turn that down kid?" Ben shouted from the doorway. Johnny pulled a face but obliged. He turned off the television, stood up and yawned.

"Where you goin'?" Ben asked.

"Out," Johnny muttered.

"You just got back," Ben stated in disbelief.

"So?" Johnny asked. "You guys are boring?"

"So where are you going then?" Ben asked curiously.

"Why are you guys always so nosy? I say I'm going out and you guys always wanna know all the details." Ben raised his eyebrows.

"I'm gonna go find my car," Johnny confessed.

"Find your car?" Ben asked.

"I think I left it at some random chick's house. I'm gonna go try and track it down. Later." Johnny left the room leaving Ben to feel very confused.

Sue watched her brother leave the building out the window suspiciously. He seemed to be spending more and more time out of the house and she couldn't help but wonder exactly what he was up too. A person can only cram in a number of parties and one night stands.

'_Don't trust anyone.' _

The sentence echoed through Sue's mind.

_Oh my god. Did he mean Johnny? But I can trust Johnny; he's my brother for goodness sake. He wouldn't do anything, would he? _

Sue suddenly felt very ashamed of herself for doubting her brother's loyalty. _But I have good reason too. _It didn't take much for someone to have Johnny wrapped around their finger. When they were younger, the siblings used to play a game called 'Would you' and involved the answering the question of doing things for large sums of money. Johnny's answer was always yes, no matter the deed. It had almost worried her that he was telling the truth. _Doom's kinda rich and has plenty of Latverian women at his disposal. _Sue bit her lip, her thoughts were making sense, something she usually welcomed but this time it didn't seem so good.

"Oh god," Sue muttered under her breath. She watched her brother strut down the street, he stuck out like a sore thumb - but in a good way. She waited until he turned a corner before she went into the nursery.

She carefully put Franklin, who was now snoring lightly, down in his cot. Sue listened to his steady, tranquil breathing and found it unusually calming. She decided to order her thoughts.

_Okay, breathe…breathe…Johnny is your brother. He will do a lot of things for money, cars and girls but surely he would never betray his own family._

**FLASHBACK**

Johnny Storm lay sprawled out on the grass, he was pretty big for a nine-year-old boy. He lay on his back with his most prized possession beside him. Johnny turned to face the blood red hot rod beside him and ran his fingers over the intricate toy.

His sister was sat with her back against a tree not far from where he lay. She was flicking through a girly magazine; occasionally looking up to check her brother was still alive. Odd as it sounded it was something you had to do regularly with someone as reckless as Johnny.

"Hello? Have you picked an answer yet?" Johnny asked impatiently.

"I dunno, it's difficult," she replied thoughtful, in honest truth she hadn't really been paying attention.

"How difficult is it? Would you kill me for a date with that dumb guy you saw yesterday?" Johnny asked angrily.

"He's not dumb," Sue murmured dreamily. "He's doing college work."

"So? Answer the question!"

"I don't know! See I would be sad if you died but then again, with you gone the world will be right again."

"Oh ha ha," Johnny said sarcastically.

"Ok fine. No I wouldn't."

"Really?" Johnny asked; he was surprised.

"Yeah, why? Would you kill me for…a real one of those?" Sue pointed to the toy car.

"Hell Yeah! You suck."

"Don't swear," Sue scolded.

"Oh I'm shaking," Johnny said mockingly. He stuck out his tongue and ran off.

**END OF FLASHBACK**

Sue ran a hand through her hair and sighed. Either when they played he game Johnny was just being a typical younger brother or he was just being very honest, as usual.

Sue went into the kitchen and put the kettle on, she wasn't normally a tea person but it had an unusual way of soothing her in a way a good cup of coffee couldn't. Ben was sitting at the table eating his way through a pile of waffles drenched in golden syrup. He nodded a greeting at Sue.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Did Johnny say where he was going?" Sue asked.

"Yeah, he went looking for his car," Ben said through a mouthful of waffle. He gulped down some orange juice. "Apparently he left it at some girl's house and is tryna track it down."

It was slightly believable excuse. If it didn't involve losing a car Sue would think it was true. The only thing Johnny cared about most was his current vehicle and he would definitely not just leave it lying around.

"Ok," Sue muttered uncertainly. Ben paused and looked up from his plate.

"Alright what's up?" Ben asked. Sue hesitated before she answered. It would be very easy to say nothing was wrong but if something was… Sue hated to think what would come next. The problem was could she trust Ben?

"Okay it's Johnny."

"Is it ever anything else?" Ben asked with a smirk. Sue smiled slightly.

"It's not what you think," Sue said quietly.

"Try me," Ben said confidently.


	17. Off the hook

**Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognise from stuff other than my stories.**

**Author's note: Ah, thank you very much for reviews. This is the last chapter before Victor's plot really starts to heat up. Oh wait, it already has ;-). Enjoy.**

"Whoa, are you sure? It is a little…unjohnnyish, if you know what I mean," Ben said, Sue's ideas had suddenly ridden him of his healthy appetite.

"I told you but I don't think he's the only one, for all I know you might be too," Sue replied sadly.

"Are you saying?"

"Yep," Sue gulped down her tea. "Please don't say anything about it. I don't even know why I told you this, look just forget I ever said anything." Sue stood up and left the room. Ben watched her leave with a confused look on his face; he understood how she was feeling though. She was making some annoying sense and it was beginning to make him doubt the rest of the team, something that isn't good when peoples' lives depended on their good teamwork.

Sue decided to do some more shopping. She only had half a wardrobe and she felt like buying more stuff for Franklin. Sue decided to take her car and took the lift down to the underground car pack.

When she reached her car a shiny red vehicle caught her eye. Her blood ran cold as she instantly recognised it as Torched 2, Johnny's car. If his car was here then it meant he wasn't really looking for it. _Oh my god. _Sue went over to the car to check he wasn't inside; the car was empty. She slowly backed away from the car with a haunted look in her eyes. Out of all the people in the world the one person who would betray her was her closet living relative. Her younger brother, the brother who at some point had almost been like her son. Sue ran a hand through her hair and felt like she was going to cry. _Why would he do that? _Sue knew Johnny was reckless and used some very twisted logic to make decisions but didn't he know the difference from right and wrong? Didn't he know she was the one person in the world he should never even consider double-crossing?

A loud horn broke Sue's train of thought and she jumped out of the way to avoid being flattened. The car neatly drove into the parking space beside her. It took Sue a moment to realise the driver was none other than her brother. Johnny grinned and waved.

"Hey sis! Whaddya think? You like?" he gestured to the car he was sitting in.

"What is this? Pimp my ride?" she asked. The sports car was a deep blue, running down the side of the car and on the hood were lighter blue flames. Johnny laughed and got out the car.

"This, is Scorched." He announced properly. "I'm telling you, I was shitting myself when I thought I'd lost her. I'd given up all hope of finding her then bam! I turn a corner and she's sitting there waiting for me."

"You mean this is the car you were looking for?" Sue asked.

"Yep…wait. How did you know?" Johnny asked suspiciously.

"Ben told me. Is this new?"

"Uh huh, custom made. Come look at the inside. I designed every single detail, from the paint job to the radio. I even set up the engine," Johnny said excitedly.

"No thanks," Sue muttered, then she suddenly realised what he had just said. "Custom made?" she asked.

Johnny scratched the back of his neck, _me and my big mouth. _"Yeah, it's nothing big," he answered quietly.

"How much?" Sue asked angrily.

"Not much, it's a pretty good price considering the circumstances," Johnny rambled.

"How much?" Sue repeated in a warning tone.

"You know what, I really need to go toilet," Johnny lied. He tried to walk off but Sue grabbed his arm and glared at him.

"Um, about to piss myself here," Johnny said nervously. Seeing that she wasn't going to get an answer Sue let her brother go. She probably didn't want to know the price anyway; it would only probably give her a heart attack. Sue glanced at Johnny's flashy ride and climbed into her own car. It seemed shabby compared to Johnny's.

Johnny collapsed into the swivelling chair in Reed's office. _That was close_. The last thing he had wanted was to tell Sue how much he had spent on his car. Johnny sighed; he was tired. He had planned to go into the living room but now it seemed like miles away Reed walked into his office holding a bunch of papers, he looked up to see Johnny slumped in his seat.

"Johnny?"

"Reed? Sorry man, you working?"

"Well yes," Reed said slowly. Johnny nodded and put his head on the desk in front of him. Reed frowned; Johnny wasn't one to fall asleep in the middle of the day unless he had spent the night before partying the night away.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Do you mind if I just sit here for a while?" Johnny asked.

"Actu-"

"Thanks," Johnny interrupted and closed his eyes. Reed rolled his eyes and put his papers down on the desk.

"Reed? You still there?" Johnny called out, his eyes still closed.

"Yeah I'm here," Reed muttered.

"Huh?"

"I'm here," Reed said loudly and clearly.

"Oh, ok. You know that boost thing? When's it gonna work?" Johnny asked, his eyes were open now and he was sitting up, his eyes were fixed on Reed.

"I don't know," Reed admitted. "It's only been two days. It took at least three for our powers to reveal themselves so it just might take some time," Reed explained. Johnny pouted.

"Well can't you speed it up? I'm getting bored here."

"Johnny I can't do anything. I probably should never have given it to you." Johnny groaned.

"Please don't go on with all that crap," Johnny moaned.

"It's not 'crap' it's common sense," Reed said in a bored tone. Johnny noticed he was doing a lot of that around him lately.

"Same thing. You just remember to talk about the machine when I become a super superhero," Johnny reminded him.

"Super superhero?" Reed asked.

"Yeah, I'll be better than a superhero won't I, so I'll be a super superhero."

"Johnny. You confuse me," Reed admitted.

"The feelings mutual. Funny actually, I used to never be able to understand a single word that came out of your mouth. It's like you've finally realised science speak is pointless," Johnny pointed out.

_I'm counting down the hours. Just a little more time and it'll happen. Victor says it will start small and get bigger. If it's any consolation for Susan, her team-mates will definitely go out with a bang. This is if the plan is everything Victor says it is. Hah, it sounds like I'm trying to suggest they will all blow up into billions of tiny pieces. No chance. They will die long and painful deaths while being publicly humiliated and losing their most precious things. I think I shall really enjoy this._

_I must admit though that some things are missing from the plan, I have tried to point this out to Victor but he has simply brushed me off. Now he has no more use for me he seems to ignore me. He has also forbidden me to leave the building - escorted or not. He is rather angry with me warning Susan, but how was I to know she would run straight to her husband? Anyway it's not like she has learnt any valuable information. It just has her running in circles like a scared pig._

_It is getting increasingly difficult to not want to reach out and point her in the right direction. She's crying right now. Sitting in her car and sobbing because she doubted her own brother. It is moments like these where I wish I were there so I could stroke her hair and tell her everything is just fine. Then I would tell her the plan and she would be so grateful for my warning she will come here and live with me. After hearing the plan she would know that all help she gave to her team mates would be in vain. With nowhere else to go she will gladly come to me and be my wife._

_I just had a thought. What is Victor is after the same thing? At one point he was frantically pursuing her, she rejected all his efforts but he is not one to give up so easily. It would explain why he is so keen to let her escape any torment. Victor is using me, he needed a hacker so he took him and promised him things he wanted for himself. He shall probably introduce me to Susan and then kill me on the spot. How would he do it? Electrocution? A gun? Or will he kill me with his bare hands? Oh my god, what have I let myself in for? _


	18. Inexperienced kidnappers

**Disclaimer: Well I can tell you I don't own anything from the fantastic four film or comics.**

**Author's note: Well this is very long. I had to cut it short and plus I'm half hyper and half asleep. I'm half asleep because I accidentally took drowsy hay fever tablets instead of non-drowsy. I'm hyper because I have just discovered my little brother made it into the Royal school of Ballet. WOO HOO! Thank you very much for the past reviews, I hope you'll review again!**

"Now he's asleep so you shouldn't have too much trouble with him. If he starts crying then sing to him or carry him and walk around. He shouldn't get hungry but just in case the bottles are on the counter," Sue instructed as she reapplied her lipstick.

"If anything gets really out of hand, call me. Don't worry about ruining our meal or anything because I will never forgive you if you kill my baby…are you even listening?" Sue asked. Johnny was flicking through a clothes catalogue and admiring the models.

"Johnny!" she scolded.

"Huh? Oh, yeah I'm listening." He said quickly. "Bottles on the counter," he added to prove his point.

"Okay but please don't do anything stupid. Don't invite anyone over-"

"Okay, I get it. Franklin will be fine, I promise." Sue didn't look convinced and wondered for a few seconds why she even trusted her brother with her son. Her and Reed were going for dinner on a mini cruise. Ben and Alicia had tickets to concert so Ben wouldn't be around either. They had given up hope of going out when Johnny had volunteered to cancel his date and baby-sit.

"I wouldn't do this if I couldn't handle it," Johnny said reassuringly.

"Thanks for doing this," she said as she put in her earrings.

"No problem, I was looking for a way to get out of tonight anyway," Johnny admitted. _Hm, nice to know he was doing it for me, _Sue thought sarcastically. She knew Johnny had some kind of ulterior motive for voluntary nights in.

"Why?" Sue asked curiously. Johnny sighed.

"Well Phoebe has the most annoying laugh," Johnny put a lot of emphasis on the 'the'. "And I wouldn't mind but she laughs all the time at things that aren't even funny. When I met her she didn't laugh once so I'm just wondering where it's coming from, do you think it's a nervous thing?"

"I think it might be deliberate," Sue said with a smirk. Johnny ignored her.

"Maybe she got nervous and a friend told her to laugh at all my jokes or something like that," Johnny pondered aloud.

"Okay, don't do anything stupid…just sit there and look after the baby," Sue instructed.

"Don't worry. Now this would be a really crap date if you spent most of the night babbling on at me," he pointed out. Sue rolled her eyes but knew he was right.

"Okay, call me if you need anything," she said as she grabbed her coat.

"Alright! Just go! Your husband is waiting," Johnny said impatiently.

"Bottles are-"

"Okay!" Johnny interrupted. He pushed her out the door and slammed it shut. He wasn't satisfied until he heard the bell of the lift.

VON DOOM TOWERS

Victor Von Doom watched the young man in front of him. He had to admit he wasn't surprised by what he was thinking; he was just surprised he had dared to speak to him.

"What?" he asked in slight disbelief.

"I said I would like you to be honest with me and tell me if you intend to keep the invisible woman for yourself," SG said bravely.

"No, I heard what you said, I just don't understand how you reached such a conclusion."

"Well you did once plan to marry her," SG mumbled, he suddenly felt very stupid.

"I can assure you Mr Brown, I have no interest in Mrs Richards. There are more important things to be done that to pursue a ditzy blonde." Victor smirked as his accomplice scowled.

"She's not ditzy," he muttered angrily.

"Of course. Now tell me Mr Brown, would you like to take a little trip?"

BAXTER BUILDING

Johnny laughed out loud at the TV and stuffed a handful of popcorn into his mouth. Though he had seen Team America almost fifty times he still found himself laughing at the jokes. Ben rolled his eyes as his friend laughed again.

It was a good film but was it really possible to laugh at jokes you had heard a thousand times?

"Don't forget you got a baby a few rooms away," Ben reminded Johnny.

"Hm," Johnny grunted in reply.

"Bye," he said as he left.

"Later," Johnny muttered before laughing again.

Although Team America wasn't his all time favourite film Ben found himself humming the amazingly annoying yet catchy theme tune as he walked down the stairs. **(A/N: America, FUCK YEAH! Lol. Sorry it's an obscene film and I promise to make no references to it again.) **

AN HOUR LATER

Johnny yawned and stretched slowly. He had to admit it was worrying him slightly that he was always tired. He had briefly considered telling his sister but decided against it. She would either go into panic mode or accuse him of taking the power boost. Johnny had also asked Reed about side effects of the boost but the scientist had been unable to come up with anything.

Johnny stood up and went into the nursery. He quickly checked the baby was still alive before admiring the mural on the wall. Reed had impressed everyone with his artistic skills when Sue announced her pregnancy. The mural was the skyline of the city on a bright sunny morning. Johnny's favourite feature was his cameo, each of the four were painted on the wall. Johnny smirked slightly and checked on the baby again.

Franklin was staring right back at him. Johnny found the way babies stared unnerving; he looked away and checked the time, it had only just gone ten. Johnny yawned again and decided it would be best if he went to bed. He left the room and grabbed his half of the baby intercom.

ON A SHIP

Sue found herself glancing worriedly at the Baxter building from the railings of the small cruiser she was on. Reed and Sue had gone onto the small ship for dinner; the ship was currently taking them down the length of the city and back again. Reed stood behind his wife with his arms around her waist. He smiled slightly as he inhaled the smell of her perfume. He followed her gaze and noticed she was still watching the Baxter Building.

"Franklin will be fine," he mumbled comfortingly in her ear.

"I'm not worried about him," Sue lied. Reed saw right through her lies.

"Then what are you worried about?" he asked.

"I don't know," she admitted. "Everything worries me. Franklin, Johnny, SG. The list is endless."

AN OUTDOOR CONCERT IN THE PARK

"Okay what's wrong?" Alicia asked. She could sense Ben's nerves from a mile away.

"Nothing," Ben muttered distractedly, his eyes were firmly glued to the Baxter Building. He didn't know why he was looking; it was just that he didn't really trust Johnny anymore. Sue's ideas had made him revaluate his team-mates and he had come to the conclusion that Johnny was all an act. Nobody would suspect someone so stupid was capable of conjuring up deadly plots; after all it was highly likely that Johnny had inherited some intelligence from his parents.

AND BACK AT THE BAXTER BUILDING

Johnny tossed and turned in his sleep. It was hot and stuffy and he was finding it hard to rest, despite the fact that he was tired.

_Johnny soared over the city; he could feel the cool, night air on his face and see the neon bright lights of Times Square below him. He had no idea where he was going or why he was flying at such a speed but he had a feeling it had something to do with the small, dull glow in the middle of the river in front of him. _

_Johnny looked down at the lights and suddenly got the strange sensation of vertigo. Johnny began to wobble slightly and before he knew it his flames were gone and he was tumbling down into the street below. Johnny seemed to be falling in slow motion at first, he could see people getting ready to leave work in the silver, sleek skyscrapers; not a single one seemed to notice him. Then Johnny began to speed up, he knew he only had seconds left until he hit the ground. 5…4…3…2…_

Johnny's eyes snapped open and he quickly checked he was still alive. He lay still in cold sweat and tried to recollect most of his dream. It wasn't the dream itself that bothered him, more the fact that it was the third dream in a row where he had been flying and fallen to the ground. He remembered a time when Sue had been into reading dreams and used to harass him almost every morning to find out what was going on inside his mind. At some point he had reluctantly told her about falling and she had, if he remembered rightly, gone into panic mode.

Johnny sat up and clutched his head; he could feel a headache coming on. He stumbled into the bathroom and began to search for some paracetamol but had no luck. He cursed under his breath as he went into the kitchen to continue his search. Again he found nothing.

A bottle of Vodka sat invitingly on the kitchen counter, Johnny frowned; he didn't remember seeing any before. _Since when does that matter?_ Johnny grabbed a bottle opener and opened the bottle. _Forget pills,_ _there's no better way to soothe a headache than alcohol, _Johnny smirked as he remembered his aunt's old saying.

By the time Johnny's headache was gone he realised he had drunk about half a bottle. **(A/N: Yes I am well aware that Johnny should pretty much have passed out before he reached that stage, but lets pretend he has VERY high alcohol tolerance and his liver will never be damaged by his reckless binge drinking. In this story being 11 units over your daily/weekly recommended limit is completely normal and in fact, there is no limit. : -P) **He laughed and shrugged it off; his sister would kill him if she knew he had drank it off all in one go. Johnny decided it would probably best if he checked on the baby, maybe even sing it a lullaby if it was awake. He began to sing to himself as he made his way to the nursery, the vodka in his arms. **(A/N:Okay I just had to do it again, I'm very sorry. If you've never seen Team America don't think this is me telling you to watch it. I'm telling you to copy and paste this link into your web browser: http/ very funny. And it's not disgustingly rude, promise. I didn't submit the video by the way.)**

"I'm so ronery, so ronery, so ronery and sadry arone, there's no one, just me onry, sitting on my rittle throne, I work very hard to be number one guy, but stiwr there's no one to right up my rife, seems rike no one takes me serirousry-" Johnny reached the high notes when he got to the nursery, he froze in the doorway. He dropped the bottle and it shattered, spilling all over the floor.

Two men were looking back at him; neither of them seemed to know what to do. The three people looked at each other uncertainly. Johnny broke the silence.

"What are you doing?" he asked. The strangers looked at each other and grabbed the baby.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Johnny shouted. He tackled the man holding the baby without even thinking. The baby flew into the air and the other man caught it. He glanced at Johnny nervously and jumped out of the already open window.

Johnny glanced between the window and the man lying underneath him. Johnny stood up and drew a quick but durable ring of fire around the man and hoped his clothes weren't fireproof.

"Stay!" he commanded before flaming on and jumping out the window. The man with the baby was hovering over the road, when he saw Johnny he flew off, Johnny followed.

ON THE BOAT

Sue's eyes widened as she saw the unmistakable ball of fire fly over the city.

"Reed"! She pointed to her brother. Reed looked at his wife and knew it was time to leave the cruise. He stretched an arm to the riverbank, grabbed his wife and let the rest of his body join his arm. Once on land the couple ran towards the Baxter Building.

AT THE OUTDOOR CONCERT

Ben tutted when he saw Johnny fly over the park. He knew the young man just couldn't be trusted.

"Uh Alicia I gotta go," he mumbled.

"Johnny run off?" she asked.

"Uh huh," Ben hesitated; he couldn't just leave Alicia.

"I'll be fine," she said soothingly.

"Okay, I'll call you," Ben promised before running in the direction of the park.

IN THE AIR

Johnny was having trouble keeping up with the kidnapper. It wasn't that the man in front was flying fast; Johnny was just flying really slowly. He wobbled slightly and immediately knew he shouldn't have touched the vodka. One of the things his sister had told him to do was stay away from alcohol in any shape or form until her or Ben got back from their dates. Johnny thought he would never see the day when he regretted breaking the rules.

Something skimmed Johnny's face. Was his attacker throwing things? Johnny didn't need to wait for an answer; he could see rocks being pelted at him. Johnny dodged the on coming attack with ease, he smirked; _he can't hit me that easily_. A rock hit Johnny in the arm, _okay maybe he can. _

BAXTER BUILDING

Sue and Reed rushed into the lobby, round about the same time Ben reached it too.

"Did you see him?" Reed asked his best friend. Ben nodded.

"Last time I checked he seemed to be headed to the lake," Ben reported.

"Surely he wouldn't be stupid enough to leave the baby alone," Reed scoffed.

"Reed, we're talking about Johnny," Ben reminded him.

"You two take the elevator," Ben said when the lift doors slid open. The superhero ran as quickly as he could to the stairwell and up the stairs.

BACK IN THE AIR

Johnny wasn't sure whether the vodka was seriously taking it's toll or the kidnapper had psychic aim. No matter how hard he tried to dodge the rocks still managed to find their target, it was starting to annoy Johnny slightly. Just to make matters worse he was now really tired. _This can't get any worse, _he thought. Johnny wondered whether his sister had seen him flying, if so he knew she would be in panic mode.

Johnny suddenly realised the rocks had stopped coming. Johnny focused on the kidnapper and realised he had a new, more deadly weapon. To most it just meant pneumonia or something. To Johnny it could mean death. Johnny slowed down as the kidnapper turned to face him; the baby nestled calmly in his jacket. _ I just had to jinx it_. Johnny slowly backed away, the further away he was the less likely he would be hit. The kidnapper seemed to know what he was thinking because he began to advance, the deadly water gun in his hands.

And then he was soaking wet, with his flames doused Johnny plummeted to the ground. His stomach lurched as he felt the all too familiar feeling of falling; he briefly considered the fact that his dream was some kind of vision before he stopped thinking all together.


	19. Aftermath

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Fantastic Four. End of story.**

**Author's note: Wow, lots of lovely reviews. I feel so privileged. Thank you very much. I actually planned to post this two days ago but my wireless connection is all weird. For Elessar-Lover: Look, no author's notes in the middle of the story! I managed to do it! It was hard but I did it cos I guess it can be pretty distracting. Now I bet everyone else was thinking that but they never bothered to tell me, reviews aren't just to tell me the good stuff, not that I want flames, but still. Tell me when stuff annoys you! Anyhoo, enjoy the chappy. **

**EDIT: Ben is no longer scared of heights, sorry about that Tricia**

Sue sat in the dining room with a haunted look in her eyes; she stared at the cream envelope lying on the table in front of her. She scanned the letter in her hands for the fifteenth time.

_Don't worry; he's in safe hands. I promise. _

They had found the letter in the burning nursery; it had somehow managed to stay intact. At first Sue had been furious with her brother, she had seen the smashed glass and, after some confirmation, realised the vodka was missing from the wine rack. Her first thought had been that he had gotten drunk and accidentally set fire to the nursery. Then she found the letter. SG had kidnapped her baby. Why would he do that? It still didn't explain why Reed's mural had been completely blackened.

Sue shuddered; SG had somehow made it past Reed's security yet again. The one person in the world who seemed to be smarter than Reed had decided to obsess over her; it was a scary thought. Sue knew this was driving her husband crazy too; he had never been outsmarted in anything in his life. She knew it upset him more that the person was younger than him; Reed never really coped well with competition.

Reed stared at the black and dusty room that had once been bright and happy. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed, his murals had been ruined and pretty much everything else in the room. The loss of the mural didn't bother Reed. It was just how SG had managed to get into the penthouse again.

Ben scanned the city below him. Ben didn't really know what he was looking for, Johnny had just disappeared from the skyline and something told Ben he wouldn't see the arrogant superhero flying towards him.

The sound of the elevator bell distracted the worrying adults from their worries and every single one of them rushed to the entrance of their home.

Johnny walked in looking slightly disoriented. He was soaking wet and cradling his right arm in his left. He looked at his team-mates, Reed and Ben looked worried but his sister was the complete opposite. She was fuming!

"What happened?" she demanded. "I leave you with my son for a few hours, come back and he's gone, I have a letter and the nursery is burnt to a crisp!" Johnny frowned and stared at her for a few moments.

"What?" he asked.

"What happened kid?" Ben said slowly and loudly.

"Oh! Uh…" Suddenly Johnny couldn't see straight, he leaned against the wall to steady himself. "I think I fell," he muttered.

"Fell? What do you mean you fell?" Sue asked; her anger was replaced with worry immediately.

"I think I fell out the sky," he replied as if he didn't quite believe it himself.

"The sky? How high up were you?" Reed asked. Johnny shrugged and began to walk off.

"Where are you going?" Sue demanded. Johnny ignored her. He stumbled off into the living quarters and out of sight.

"Maybe we should just leave him," Ben suggested. "We might get some better answers in the morning. Meanwhile I think I'm gonna go for a walk, see if the kid's done any damage."

"Okay, call if you see anything," Reed said quietly. The couple watched Ben make his way to the stairs before going into the living room.

"We should probably call the police," Reed suggested. "If we publicise this we might find Franklin quicker, I'm sure a number of people might come forward with some information."

Sue sat down on the sofa and looked at her husband. She knew he was right.

"Okay, I think I'll just call our parents first, they might be upset about not being the first to this," she said.

Reed went into his office to use the phone and Sue went to use the phone in the kitchen. She gasped slightly as she entered the kitchen. Her brother lay on the floor groaning, a puddle of vomit lay a few feet away.

"Oh my god Johnny. I guess you did drink that vodka," Sue said as she knelt beside him, careful to avoid the vomit. Johnny groaned in reply.

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up," she said soothingly and helped her brother slowly stand up. She wrinkled her nose as he began to heave again.

"Come on," she repeated. Slowly she helped Johnny make his way to his bedroom and helped him get ready for bed. She placed a bucket beside his bed and cleaned up the mess in the kitchen with a few force fields and a bin. That way she didn't need to touch anything.

OUTSIDE THE BAXTER

Ben didn't know where to start his search; he had no idea where Johnny had crash-landed. He didn't have to look very far because two teenage girls approached him.

"Oh my god is he alright?" one asked.

"Who?" Ben asked.

"The Torch, is he okay? We saw him fall," the other replied.

"You did? Could you tell me what happened?" Ben asked. He knew he sounded oddly professional, something that would have Johnny in stitches.

"Okay, so we were just walking by the lake when suddenly this guy falls into the tree beside us. I think he must've landed on a branch cos the branch snapped and he fell into the lake," the first said excitedly.

"We pulled him out," the second said proudly.

"And then we realised it was The Torch," the first added.

"And then he just ran off without even saying thank you," the second said bitterly.

"Yeah he can be like that, could you tell me where all this happened?" Ben asked.

"Well we were standing on Bow Bridge," the first girl informed him.

"Okay, thanks ladies," Ben said gratefully.

"No problem," the second said with a huge grin.

As Ben left the teenage girls he decided to check in with Reed. Ben pulled an intercom out of his coat pocket and rang Reed. The scientist picked up after two rings.

"Ben! Did you see anything?" Reed asked without even saying hello.

"Yeah, two girls just told me everything and I'm only outside the building."

"Really? What did they say?"

"The kid fell in a tree and then fell into the lake in the park," Ben found himself wincing slightly at the image of Johnny tumbling through the sky and landed with a thud in a tree.

"A tree and a lake? Well I think you won't be surprised to know he did drink the vodka, he's vomiting right now," Reed said, Ben could tell Reed wasn't surprised either.

"Clever kid," Ben said dryly. "D'ya want me to check out the scene, see if something else was involved?"

"Maybe you should, just to be on the safe side," Reed said approvingly before hanging up.

THE NEXT DAY

Ben walked into the kitchen late that morning for breakfast; he was tired considering he had spent most of the night scouring The Lake for any clues. The only thing that looked slightly unordinary was the number of rocks in the path, but rocks on the ground in a park aren't abnormal.

"Morning," Ben grunted as she sat down at the dinner table. Reed sat opposite him sipping coffee and reading the morning paper.

"Morning, did you find anything last night?" Reed asked.

"Nothing, where's the kid?"

"Sue is trying to wake him up right now."

"Oh for God's sake, get up!" Sue shouted at the lump in the middle of her brother's bed. All she got was a groan in reply.

"Johnny please get up, we need to talk about last night," she pleaded.

"I'll talk tomorrow," Johnny grumbled.

"This is important," she implored.

"Sue, I have the hangover from hell and my arm is killing me."

"Well maybe if you get up you could take something for your hangover and I could take a look at you arm. Can you remember what even happened? Did you know you fell out of a tree?" Sue asked desperately. Johnny poked his head out from under the covers and stared at his sister in disbelief.

"I what? I mean I knew I was flying but. I what?" he asked.

"Never mind, go to sleep," Sue said innocently and left the room. Johnny stared at his sister in horror.

"Sue, wait! What happened?" he yelled as he dived out of bed, he left his room only to find his sister was outside the door waiting for him. She handed him a box of paracetamol.

"Take these and get dressed." She commanded with a smirk. Johnny glared at his sister but did as she said anyway.

45 minutes later Johnny sat in the lab staring at the floor in horror. Reed, Ben and Sue stood around him and told him exactly what he had done. It turned out he hadn't only burnt the nursery but a few trees and cars as he flew.

"Sorry?" he offered.

"You're sorry? Johnny not only have you allowed my child to be kidnapped but you decided to do a little vandalism on the way." Sue said angrily

"You guys don't understand; I was chasing the kidnappers. I left one of them in the nursery in a ring of fire," Johnny protested.

"Well great job cos when we got there the place was empty," Ben informed the horrified young man.

"It was? And there wasn't, like a body or anything?" he asked worriedly.

"Absolutely nothing. Anyway what were you thinking? Drinking vodka when we left you to look after out son?" Reed asked angrily.

"I bet they even made you fall," Ben muttered sarcastically.

"They did! I saw him; he made me fall! And if I'm imagining it how come Franklin's gone. I'm telling you, I saw flying kidnappers!" Johnny insisted.

"How much Vodka did you drink?" Sue asked accusingly.

"I didn't drink any!" Johnny lied.

"Never mind the vodka, what were you thinking setting the nursery on fire?" Reed asked.

"It was an accident," Johnny muttered.

"How can you accidentally set fire to a room? Why don't you ever think?" Sue asked.

"Well it's hard to think when you have a headache," Johnny retorted.

"They didn't just make painkillers for nothing," Ben grumbled.

"Yeah well I couldn't find any so I drank the Vodka, there's your confession, happy now?" Johnny shouted.

"What are you? Aunt Sam? You drank Vodka to get rid of a headache! Are you insane?" Sue shouted back.

"I didn't get out of bed for this," Johnny grumbled and he walked off defiantly.

"Johnny! Johnny, get back here right now!" Sue yelled after him. Johnny's only reply was the middle finger.

Sue slumped down into the chair Johnny had been sitting in; it was unusually hot. She sighed loudly and put her head in her hands. Reed draped an arm over her shoulders comfortingly.

"Why would he do such a thing? Why would anyone do such a thing?" she asked nobody in particular.

"You woulda thought the kid woulda learnt how to behave himself in certain situations," Ben said in agreement.

"I wouldn't mind but did you see the way he lied," Sue said sadly.

"I know, flying kidnappers," Ben rolled his eyes as he spoke.

"Actually," Reed interrupted, "I don't think he's lying." Ben and Sue looked at Reed in disbelief.

"Reed, the kid was drunk. And how many flying kidnappers have you heard of?" Ben asked.

"Exactly he was drunk, not hallucinating. I know Johnny can lie sometimes but right now he's the only lead we've got. Maybe we should listen to what he has to say. What if one of the kidnappers were SG and Johnny could identify him?" Reed said persuasively. "What have we got to lose?" Reed added.

"How about your baby. If Johnny were wrong we'd waste a lot of time. Enough for your son to disappear without a trace," Ben said forcefully. The two friends glared at each other.

"I'm just telling you to be careful stretch. You know how Johnny is, these flying kidnapers will be a lie but he'll be too afraid to tell the truth and very soon he'll be in too deep. So deep he'll just have to keep on lying." Ben said after a tense silence.

"That's a chance I'm willing to take, Johnny knows what's at stake here. Not even Johnny is stupid enough to lie about something like that." Ben had a feeling his best friend would come out with a ridiculously overused yet noble line. Ben looked at Sue, he could tell by the look in her eyes that she agreed with her husband. She always did, well most of the time anyway.

"Reed's right," _Surprise surprise. _"Johnny's the only lead we have. Even if he is lying it might get us at least somewhere," Sue said slightly reluctantly. Ben glanced between the couple and knew he had been defeated.

"Fine, but when you find out it was all a lie to cover his sorry little ass don't come running to me," Ben grumbled before walking off.

VON DOOM TOWERS

_It's here. It's lying right in front of me. It's staring right at me; I wonder what it thinks? For a baby it's very calm about being away from its mother. It hasn't cried once, not even for food. I fed it this morning. I even changed its diaper! Something I never thought I would be doing for at least a few more years yet. My mother would be proud! _

_Victor was pleased with my work too, he said I was very brave for facing one of the most dangerous members of the Fantastic Four. I don't really think you can call it bravery if your opponent is intoxicated. I'm actually quite worried. I still don't know for sure whether I killed him though, I watched him fall but then I ran. Just in case he did survive and the freezing cold water managed to sober him up a bit. I wonder if Susan got my message?_

_I would check up on her but for some unknown reason we have lost our connection to the Baxter Building. It is incredibly frustrating. I think Dr Richards may have finally realised we are hacking in and shut the whole system down. For a 'child prodigy' he grew up to be quite slow. For him intelligence never really grew with age but rather stayed the same. I believe that is how I am able to outsmart him, every day I grow smarter. A person once told me we never stop learning and I definitely haven't stopped yet. _

BAXTER BUILDING

Sue yawned and knocked on her brother's door. An hour had passed since their 'confrontation' and she had decided to take a slightly different approach. She knocked again; she was clearly being ignored.

"Johnny?" she called loudly. Still no answer. Clearly irritated Sue opened the door was slightly surprised to see it was empty. "Johnny?" She repeated. Sue had no idea why she was so surprised; it wasn't unlike her brother to just leave without saying anything.

Sue turned around to leave and bumped into none other than her brother on her way out. Johnny raised his eyebrows at her and went into his room.

"I though you left," Sue said quietly. Johnny shook his head. Johnny jumped onto his bed and looked at his sister expectantly.

"Well?" he asked.

"We need to talk-"

"I don't want to talk," Johnny grumbled. He tried to cross his arms but winced and gave up on the idea.

"At least let me look at your arm," Sue said desperately. Johnny toyed with the idea, his arm was hurting him and his sister did seem very desperate.

"Okay," he muttered reluctantly.

"Here or hospital?" Sue asked. It wasn't a hard choice; chances are he would at least meet one lovely lady outside the Baxter.

"Hospital," he said with a grin.


	20. Saviour

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Fantastic Four or any characters from the film or comic books.**

**Author's note: Last chapter I made a pretty stupid mistake. I said Ben was scared of heights when he's a pilot, thanks to Tricia for pointing that out, it's all been edited and stuff. Thanks for the reviews for the last chapter and I'm sorry it took so long to update, I've just been busy but now I have no school for six beautiful weeks I think I'll be updating pretty regularly.**

Ben had decided not to go the hospital; he'd rather spend time doing something worthwhile, like look for clues. He knew his friends were making a mistake; Johnny just wasn't someone you could trust. _If only I'd stuck around last night_. Ben couldn't help but feel somewhat responsible for everything; he didn't really have to go to the concert. He knew Alicia would have no trouble being with him in the Baxter all night. If he had stayed there would've been no chance the kidnappers would have escaped with Franklin, even if they did really fly.

The thing that annoyed Ben the most was how the authorities were treating the kidnapping. NYPD had written a few reports and then put their feet up. They honestly believed that because the Fantastic Four were involved they had absolutely nothing to worry about.

VON DOOM TOWERS

Victor Von Doom strode across the bridge that linked his office to his partner in crime's penthouse. He hummed to himself as he walked; it was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and he'd successfully arranged the kidnapping of his nemesis' child. He knew Richards would probably be tearing his hair out and trying to figure out what was happening. He knew he was desperate, after all the four had announced it only moments after the deed had been done.

SG was sitting hunched over the baby, He had been like pretty much every second he had been awake. It was the kind of obsession that worried Victor slightly; it made him wonder what exactly went on in the young man's head.

"Good afternoon," Victor greeted, tearing his accomplice from his reverie.

"Hi," SG said briefly before turning his attention straight back to the baby.

"How is the child?" Victor asked.

"It's doing great," SG murmured distractedly.

"Good…I'm sending Leonard out for some business, would you care to join him?" Victor asked.

"No thanks, last time I joined him I was nearly killed," SG said curtly.

"This isn't such an active mission, I just thought you might enjoy meeting her," Victor waited for SG to turn around with a large grin on his face and agree.

"No thank you," the young man said with a hint of regret. "Someone has to look after the baby."

"I have people who can do that," Victor said impatiently.

"I'd rather do it myself," SG said forcefully.

"Fine." Victor said stiffly, he turned on his heel and left the room. It wasn't often someone declined his offerings of thanks.

AT THE HOSPITAL

Reed scanned the article and threw the paper down in frustration when he was finished. He had announced the kidnapping to help find his son quicker, not watch his reputation crumble. The newspaper at his feet wasn't the only one to try and trash the name of the world's first superheroes. Most of the newspapers had seen the kidnapping as a sign that the Fantastic Four weren't as fantastic as people thought. This infuriated Reed. He clenched his fists and tried to calm himself down, he knew it was ridiculous to let the media affect him so much. It was easier said than done. Reed let out a roar and punched the wooden table beside him. He cringed as it snapped in two. He looked up; people were watching him worriedly. He could hear them whisper about him among themselves. _I need a coffee. _Reed stood up and went over to the machine. Reed knew there was no way the glossy picture on the machine would resemble what he would get. He slipped some change in the coin slot and waited patiently as the machine hummed and buzzed.

As Reed had expected, the coffee tasted like crap. Reed grimaced as he took a sip and quickly decided not to drink anymore. He scanned the room for somewhere to deposit the black liquid but couldn't see anything useful. He noticed that most of the people in the waiting room were still watching him, waiting for him to have another outburst no doubt. It was as Reed scanned the room that he noticed one particular person. They were trying hard to look like they weren't looking at him from behind their week old newspaper but their eyes were firmly fixed on him.

It was only when their eyes met did the stranger look away. It was enough for Reed to realise what was going on. He recognised the man instantly. Brown eyes, he was Caucasian and had that oily black hair. Leonard.

Leonard peeked at Reed from behind the newspaper and knew he had blown his cover. He could tell by the fury in Reed's eyes. Leonard folded the paper and put it on the coffee table. He stood up hastily and walked quickly out the room. Just as he reached the door Reed stepped in front of him.

"Where is he?" Reed demanded in a low, dangerous tone.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Leonard said mockingly.

Reed grabbed Leonard by his throat and pinned him against the wall.

"Oh, but I think you do," he whispered threateningly. People were rushing towards the pair in seconds.

"Uh, Mr Fantastic? Could you let go of the man…please?" the receptionist begged. Reed ignored her.

"You think I don't know what's going on? You think I can't see?" Reed asked Leonard, his voice steadily rising. "I swear if you do anything to hurt my son!"

"Your son? Mr Fantastic don't be ridiculous! Let go of that innocent man right now!" A doctor commanded. Reed looked at the doctor.

"Innocent? You think he's innocent? Victor Von Doom's right hand man is innocent? He knows where Franklin is, he knows everything!" Reed shouted.

"Right hand man? I've never met you or Mr Von Doom in my life." Leonard lied. Reed tightened his grip on Leonard's throat. The Latverian choked and started to squirm.

"Let me go! I'm here with my girlfriend!" Leonard pointed to the brunette standing behind Reed with a worried look on her face. Reed growled, clenched his fists and punched Leonard in the jaw.

The next few moments were a blur to Reed. The doctor and a few patients dragged him away and Leonard began to sprint down the hall. Then Johnny had emerged from a room, Reed had shouted his name and told him to chase Leonard. Johnny hadn't even stopped to question what was going on, he had just run after the enemy. Then Sue had appeared, saying she had seen Leonard and Johnny and demanded to know what was going on. Reed had ignored her and the second everyone had thought he had calmed down enough to let go of him he had sprinted in the direction Johnny and Leonard had gone.

ELSEWHERE IN THE HOSPITAL

Johnny kept on running, he had no idea how long he had been running for or why but Reed had seemed pretty desperate. He had just finished a make out session with the nurse who X-rayed him when some guy had run past him. Then Reed had practically screamed at Johnny to run after him. So here he was, running like his life depended on it, even though he had no idea who he was chasing. _The things I do for family. _The man in front turned around to look at Johnny and for a brief their eyes met, Johnny quickly realised he was facing none other than Leonard. _What the hell is he doing here? _

Johnny followed Leonard into the main reception. _Don't lose him don't lose him don't lose him don't lose him. Oh! Lovely lady at 3 o'clock… Concentrate! Don't lose him don't lose him don't lose him…_ Johnny was trying hard to concentrate on Leonard but it was getting increasingly difficult. He managed to keep track of Leonard until they were outside the hospital where he just simply disappeared.

Johnny stood in the middle of the car park; he craned his neck desperately for any sign of Leonard. Chances were the PA was sitting in a car and waiting for him to give up. _What kind of car would a stinking rich guy with no life drive? _Johnny was clueless and it was a pretty big car park. Reed would kill him, however, if he returned empty handed. As Johnny searched the car park Reed jogged up to him.

"Where is he" Reed asked, he was slightly out of breath but there was still a fierce edge to his voice.

"Dunno," Johnny mumbled. Reed looked at him like he was crazy.

"What do you mean you don't know where he is? Get in the air and find him!" Reed commanded. He was off running around the car park before Johnny could reply.

SOMEWHERE ELSE

Leonard closed his eyes and prayed. He sat slouched down in the back seat of an old Ford. It was small and dirty, the kind a person doesn't want to sit in. It wasn't even Leonard's car, the door had been open and it was his only option. He dared himself to sit up slightly and see if Johnny was gone. He gave a quick peek and was horrified to see that Reed had joined Johnny. To make matters worse Reed was looking into the car next to the one he was hiding in.

Then the driver of the Ford appeared. For a moment Leonard thought he was a dead man. The person glance in the rear view mirror, see him, turn around and say something like 'who the hell are you?' or 'get out my car!' What Leonard didn't expect was for the driver to turn around, wink at him and then start the engine. Leonard blinked in surprise; it was the girl he had called his girlfriend a few minutes before. Leonard waited until he waited until they were out the car park before he sat up.

"Thanks…uh" he looked at her expectantly.

"Sofia, Sofia Wallace."

"Thanks Sofia. I'm Leonard, Leonard Werner."

"Please to make you acquaintance Leonard."

"The pleasure is all mine."


	21. New Team member

**Disclaimer: I don't own the FF etc.**

**Author's note: I have to make this quick before I completely lose my internet. Again. Thanks for reviews and enjoy**

Victor looked the girl up and down. She didn't seem to be intimidated by his steely gaze, she looked right back at him with a smug smile on her face. Leonard looked between the two of them nervously; Sofia had requested to meet Victor when she drove him into the company car park. Leonard had told her Victor was dead and then the man himself had shown up. He had obviously heard about the happenings at the hospital and was curious as to how Leonard escaped so easily.

"And your name is?" Victor asked, breaking the silence.

"Sofia Wallace," she spoke with such confidence. Victor was obviously quite impressed.

"And you want to join me?" he asked.

"Well that is why I'm standing here. I heard you were in town and I thought you might want some help," Sofia said calmly. Leonard admired her nerves of steel; a simple question from Victor sometimes made him tremble.

"Well what exactly could you do for me?" he asked.

"That depends on what you need. Unlike some people," she cast a playful glance at Leonard, "I know how to spy on someone and I could get close enough to the four if you wanted me to."

Victor was quiet for a few moments as he debated whether or not to take up her proposal.

"Leonard, brief her and then introduce her to the rest of the team," Victor said with a genuine smile. Sofia and Leonard smiled and quickly left the room.

"How exactly would you get close?" Leonard asked Sofia once they were outside the office.

"Well I've heard that Johnny Storm will let anyone in his bed," she said with a smirk. Leonard just raised his eyebrows. "There's always the helpless, injured girl who needs medical attention in the Baxter Building," she added. "People like them are suckers for all that stuff."

BAXTER BUILDING

"You what?" Ben shouted. Johnny swore he could see birds fly away from the ground as he spoke. He looked down at the cast on his arm and fingered the rough edge.

"I lost him," Johnny mumbled. Ben stared at his friend in disbelief, then he looked at Reed and Sue.

"You trusted him with that guy?" then he turned his attention back to Johnny. "And you! Why didn't you catch him?"

"Ben, calm down, we'll have plenty of opportunities to get Leonard," Sue said soothingly. Johnny noted that she didn't say something like 'it's not his fault'.

"Will we?" Ben asked. "Victor ain't stupid, he learns from his mistakes."

"Okay so Johnny messed up. It's not the end of the world, we still have other things," Sue said desperately.

"Oh yeah? Like what?" Ben asked. Sue looked at Johnny anxiously.

"SG. If one of the kidnappers was SG, Johnny could identify him." Sue looked at Johnny hopefully; he nodded eagerly.

"I can do that," he said excitedly.

Reed, who had been sitting quietly, spoke. "And you remember what they looked like?"

"I have a photographic memory," Johnny said proudly. Reed and Ben didn't look convinced.

"So were the kidnappers wearing masks?" Reed asked. Johnny's smile faltered.

"Uh…yeah," he mumbled.

"Well that's a great load of help," Ben muttered sarcastically.

"But!" Johnny said desperately. "I did see one face. When I was chasing the one with Franklin his mask fell off and I saw his face for like a few seconds."

"Draw," Sue commanded. She thrust a piece of paper and a pencil into his face.

ONE HOUR LATER

"Ta-da!" Johnny said loudly as he presented his drawing to the rest of the team. Silence filled the room for a few moments.

"You don't like it?" Johnny asked sadly. He pouted and for a moment Sue thought he was nine again.

"No Johnny, it's fine. It's just…we could be looking at the mastermind behind all this," Reed said solemnly.

"That's pretty good kid, I never knew you could draw," Ben commented. Johnny beamed.

"Just one of my many hidden talents," Johnny boasted.

"Don't get too happy Tinkerbell, it ain't _that _good."

"You're just jealous," Johnny retorted causing Ben to roll his eyes.

"Dream on, there ain't nothing to be jealous of," Ben said with a smirk.

Sue took the piece of paper out of Johnny's hand and stared at it. In true Johnny fashion he hadn't just drawn an expressionless picture. It was bright and bold, filled with colour. Johnny had also added a worried and scared expression to the man's face. Her blood ran cold at the idea that she could be looking at a portrait of her stalker. Hastily she put the picture on the table face down and stood up.

All eyes turned to Sue worriedly.

"You okay Suzie?" Ben asked. Sue nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she muttered and left the room.

Reed watched her leave sadly before taking on his team leader persona. He picked up the picture and cleared his throat.

"I'll take these down to the police station and see if they have any records of him." Reed pointed at Ben. "Your coming with me, we'll get a photocopy somewhere and you can go to Hanson Street and see if anyone recognises him," he turned to Johnny. "And you…don't mess anything up, please," he said in a desperate tone.

"Yeah, sure," Johnny said quietly, trying to sound like he wasn't offended by Reed's plan. Clearly no one trusted him enough to handle anything important. Nether the less Johnny smiled and shouted joked goodbyes to his friends as they left.

"Don't get back too late boys, you wouldn't want a cold dinner now would you?" Ben turned around at the last remark and chuckled.

"Don't get into any trouble kid, I'm trusting you on this," he said.

"I think I can handle being a good boy," Johnny admitted.

"Actually Johnny, I wouldn't be so sure," Reed said with a smirk. Johnny laughed and pointed.

"Wow, he's being funny," Johnny said in mock amazement.

"Just be good," Reed instructed before disappearing out of sight.

The moment they were gone Johnny's smile faded. He sighed and slumped down into a near-by chair. He scratched the back of his neck and pulled at his sling, it was more than uncomfortable. He heard footsteps behind him.

"Don't play with that," It was his sister, her voice sounded off; she'd been crying. He turned around to face her.

"I wasn't playing with it. It's just…irritating," Johnny muttered.

"Where're Reed and Ben?" she asked.

"Gone clue hunting," Johnny mumbled. Sue noted the slight bitter edge to his voice.

"And you didn't want to go?" she asked curiously.

"I wasn't invited," he admitted resentfully and walked off.

"Invited?" Sue asked. "It's not a party," she said as she followed him to the living room. Johnny sprawled himself out on the sofa before he replied.

"Yeah, well Reed was all like 'stay here and don't do anything stupid'. Somehow it sounds like he didn't really want me to come along."

"He's just a little stressed out right now," Sue said soothingly. Johnny sighed.

"I know," he muttered. He looked his sister in the eye, "I screwed up didn't I?" he said sadly. Sue bit her lip, sighed and sat down beside him.

"You didn't screw anything up," she said.

"You think so?" he asked, a hint of hope in his voice.

'You just…made a bit of a mess of everything," Johnny's face fell. "But its not the end of the world, everyone screws up sometime," she added quickly.

"It is! I didn't screw just anything up Sue. My…screwy-ness got your baby kidnapped."

"It wasn't just you who made a mistake. We all did that night; if we'd handled everything a little better then everything would be okay. We should've seen SG and followed him instead of running back home." Sue said sadly.

"But if I never drank that vodka I woulda caught him," Johnny admitted quietly.

"If I locked up the alcohol you never would have drank any," Sue added.

"I am sorry you know, for drinking it. It's just when I saw it on the counter it kinda-"

"On the counter?" Sue interrupted.

"Yeah," Johnny said slowly. "Why?"

"Well, I put it away before I left," she said slowly.

"Are you sure?" Johnny asked. Sue nodded and stood up.

"Do you think they knew you'd drink it?" she asked. Sue didn't need to mention a name; Johnny knew exactly what she was talking about. He nodded slowly.

"They tricked me," he said angrily.

AT THE POLICE STATION

"I dunno Mr Fantastic, you gotta a name for him?" Reed wasn't surprised by the outcome of events. The police department were once again refusing to help him.

"Not yet, actually, I was hoping you could help me with that," Reed said, there was a hint of desperation in his voice, which the Brooklyn-born officer seemed to pick up on.

"Well unless someone recognises him in here," he gestured to the people behind him, "we can't help ya. If you give us a name we'll be able to track this punk down." Reed deflated and the policeman looked down guiltily.

"Give it here," he muttered and snatched Johnny's drawing out of Reed's hand.

"Hey! You lot! I want you all to take a good long look at this picture here and tell me if you recognise the person in it," he shouted. This grabbed the attention of his colleagues. Most of them came up to look at the picture and shook their heads but several didn't bother to look.

"Hey, you punks at the back! I said look at the picture," the officer shouted.

"We can't see it from here," someone shouted.

"Then get your lazy asses over here, now!"

The remaining officers reluctantly got up and came over to look at the drawing. None of them recognised him.

"Thanks for your help," Reed said as he left, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "You've helped me tremendously," the sarcasm was more apparent now but the officer ignored it.

"You're welcome," he called after him, causing Reed to roll his eyes.

HANSON STREET

"Are you sure you don't recognise him," Ben said slowly. The man shook his head and slammed his door shut. Ben had visited almost every building on the road but no one seemed to recognise his or her own neighbour. Ben smirked and walked over to no. 62, it would be funny if SG himself opened the door.

He lightly pressed the doorbell and waited for an answer, he was there for a minute before someone finally opened the door. It was a tall lanky man with deep brown eyes and long bleached blonde hair. He was almost exactly like Johnny's picture apart from the fact that he had long blonde hair. Ben showed the guy the picture.

"What?" the blonde asked dopily.

"Know this guy?" he asked. The SG look-alike went pale and his eyes widened. He slammed the door shut leaving Ben with a smirk on his face. He'd found his target.

VON DOOM TOWERS

Sofia sat quietly at the end of the long table in Victor's office. He sat opposite her in his throne with a smug look on his face. She had to admit she sometimes found his stares unnerving; it was like looking into the eyes of someone who had seen everything. His face, however, hid nothing; from just glancing at him she could tell he was extremely cautious of her. He didn't trust her motives for joining him and thought she was a mole. She smirked slightly; it was typical of someone like him to doubt those around him. Lack of trust wouldn't get him anywhere, she had a feeling he didn't even trust Leonard.

"The first two phases of my plan are complete," Victor announced, breaking the silence.

"And they are?" Sofia asked.

"Classified information," Victor said coldly. His tone softened, "I hope you don't have a problem with my precautions. The only person who knows every single detail of the plan is me. You will know only about the parts you will play."

"And how exactly will that help?" Sofia asked.

"Take Leonard for example, if he were to be captured and the plan was forced out of him he could only tell them about the first two phases. The Fantastic Four would still be clueless about what is to come," Victor said with a hint of impatience. He didn't like people who dared to question his decisions.

Sofia had to hand it to him; Victor knew what he was doing. He'd had a long time to think this plan over and he hadn't missed out any detail, he'd considered every scenario and it showed. The Fantastic Four didn't stand a chance.

"So what part will I play?" Sofia asked curiously. Victor smiled.

"Phase three, obviously. I would like you to pay a little visit to someone."


	22. The impossible

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Fantastic Four and any friends or enemies in this story that have been featured in the comics or film.**

**Author's note: Woo! Over 100 reviews! I am very happy now, thank you to the people who made it possible and bothered to review. This chapter will probably not make a lot of sense in some places. I think some scenes are pretty rushed but it was the best I could do and part of my vision in this story. Anyhoo, enjoy the chapter.**

Alicia Masters sat quietly in her art studio as she carefully moulded the clay on a pedestal to her liking. She didn't need to have Ben in front of her to create an accurate sculpture. A knock on the door broke her concentration and she smudged Ben's eyebrows, Alicia sighed, grabbed her cane and made her way to the front door.

"Yes?" she asked as she opened the door.

"Evening. I'm Lieutenant Blake. Alicia Masters?" The woman at the door asked. Alicia frowned.

"Yes," Alicia said doubtfully.

"May I come in?" the other woman asked. Alicia nodded and stood aside to let the woman pass. Alicia shut the door and turned to face her visitor.

"Can I help you?" she asked. The policewoman took on a formal tone.

"Ms Masters, I'm afraid there's been a accident."

"Accident?" Alicia stuttered quietly.

"Yes, one that involves your father, Phillip-" Alicia cut her off.

"My father? What happened? Is he alive?"

"I'm afraid he fell off the roof of a twelve storey building, he didn't survive."

"And you're sure this is my father?" Alicia asked, sounding very sceptical. Phillip Masters was one of those very careful people; he didn't any take chances. He had wanted Alicia buy a ground floor flat because he wanted to be able to visit her without having to worry, she hadn't followed his instructions. The chances that he would stand on the roof of a 12-storey building were near impossible.

"Yes, and furthermore we have a suspicion it might not be an accident," the policewoman said carefully.

"You mean he killed himself?" Alicia asked.

"No…we think it was murder. We'd been following your father before all this and… we noticed heights weren't really his thing."

"Why were you following him?" Alicia asked suspiciously.

"I'm afraid I'm not allowed to disclose such information."

Alicia felt faint. Her father? Murdered? Who would do such a thing? Her father kept himself to himself; he didn't really have any friends or enemies. He just spent most of time alone or selling sculptures that Alicia had made.

"Would you like to sit down?" the woman asked. Alicia nodded and lieutenant Blake led her to a worn armchair.

"Would you like something to drink?" she asked. Alicia nodded again.

"Water please," she murmured distractedly. Alicia's thoughts swam frantically through her mind, nothing made sense. The blind sculptress suddenly felt like she had been detached from reality.

She jumped as she heard a glass land on the end table beside her. Alicia slowly picked up the drink and gulped down the contents, had she been able to see she would've noticed the liquid in the glass was jet black.

"I'll be going now," the policewoman said soothingly. "I work at the station two blocks down, if you need anything just go there and ask for me." Alicia nodded and wiped a tear trickling down her cheek. Once the policewoman was gone Alicia started to sob, she threw the glass at the wall opposite in frustration and listened to it shatter. It mirrored exactly how she felt, like she'd been broken into millions of tiny pieces. Although Phillip Masters was only her step-father he had cared for Alicia as if she were his own, when her mother had died she hadn't abandoned the blind girl, he had taken her under his wing and supported her for most of her life. _Oh dad. _

Lieutenant Blake left the art studio as soon as she was sure Alicia had consumed all the 'water'. Then she had left and walked down towards the police station, instead of going inside she walked straight past it and went down a small, dark alleyway. In the alleyway was her car, she smiled at the sight of the dirty, old ford and got into the passenger seat.

"Well?" the driver asked.

"Piece of cake," Lieutenant Blake said triumphantly as the car sped off and out of sight.

VON DOOM TOWERS

Sofia and Leonard entered Victor's office and sat down quickly at the table. SG was already there; Franklin was nestled peacefully in his arms. Sofia raised her eyebrows at the sight. Victor was standing with his back to his guests; his eyes were on the cameras lined on the wall.

"I trust you mission went as planned?' Victor asked Sofia without looking at her.

"Of course, really Victor, I'm offended that you even dare to doubt my work," Sofia replied. Victor turned around and smiled.

"You must understand Ms Wallace, it's in my nature to doubt those around me." Sofia was going to challenge him but decided against it, if she wanted to be a part of the team she had to respect its leader.

"Ah, Phillip." Victor said warmly. Sofia turned around to see the new arrival. Leonard seemed to talk non-stop about Victor and his adopted son, Sofia was eager to meet the man who had 'replaced' Leonard. She was more than surprised with what she saw.

She watched in shock as a henchman wheeled in a man in a wheelchair. The man didn't seem all that high and mighty to Sofia, Leonard talked about him like he was a threat to his position. Victor didn't seem to trust his own son enough to leave him without restraints. He had a muzzle over his mouth and his arms were strapped to the arms of his chair. His legs were tied to the footrests.

Sofia looked at everyone, nobody was surprised and Victor seemed to be smirking. Sofia looked closely at Phillip and noticed he was quite young, only sixteen or seventeen. _What has he done to deserve this?_ Phillip was wheeled to the very end of the table before the henchman left him alone. Sofia noticed that he seemed to be half asleep.

"Phillip!" Victor greeted brightly. "I thought you might enjoy this," he said.

Small display monitors rose up from the table surface. It was a moment before the screens blinked to life. The picture was of the Fantastic Four eating dinner in their dining/kitchen area. Sofia frowned and looked around. Everyone else, including Phillip, was absorbed into the scene.

"In exactly 3 minutes, phase one will be complete," Victor announced.

"What's gonna happen?" SG asked. Victor gave him a smug smile.

"Wait and see."

BAXTER BUILDING

"Then what happened?" Sue asked as passed the salt to her husband.

"I left the station," Reed admitted, he kept his eyes on the flowery blue tablecloth Sue had persuaded him to buy. Johnny stared at him in disbelief.

"You didn't even try," Johnny said angrily.

"Well what could I do?" Reed asked. Johnny thought for a moment.

"Have a breakdown and make them help?" Johnny suggested. Ben tutted and rolled his eyes. Johnny glared at him.

"And I suppose you had just as much luck with that attitude," Johnny said sarcastically to his friend. Ben smirked.

"Actually, I think I found some pretty important evidence," the former pilot said smugly.

"Like what?" Sue asked as she looked in the oven to see how desert was coming along.

"Well, I went to Hanson Street and when I knocked on SG's house-"

"He answered the door?" Johnny interrupted.

"Not quite," Ben admitted. "I think it may have been his brother. He looked a lot like your picture but he had long, bleached blonde hair," Ben explained. Johnny's eyes widened.

"Seriously?" he asked. "What did he say?"

"I asked him if he recognised the picture and he slammed the door in my face," Ben said calmly before shovelling a load of potatoes into his mouth.

"Wow," Johnny said slowly, "we're actually getting somewhere. Do you think the SG I saw just had a wig on?"

"Why would he wear a wig if he had a mask on?" Sue asked.

"You can never be too careful," Reed pointed out. "He has the brain of a criminal mastermind, people like him don't take any chances." Johnny nodded in agreement.

"Whatever you say," Sue muttered under the breath.

"Suzie, I know this is tough but you gotta stop tryna avoid any ideas that he's impossible to find," Ben said gently.

"I know," Sue said quietly. She stood up and went over to the oven; she began to search the work surface.

"Has anyone seen the oven gloves?" she asked.

"No," came the chorused reply. Sue sighed in frustration.

"Johnny," she said with a pleading look in his direction. Johnny sighed.

"Do you want to eat burnt apple crumble?" Sue asked.

"Yeah, okay I'm coming," Johnny said reluctantly. He had another forkful of sweet corn before he joined his sister by the oven. Grudgingly he reached in and pulled out a clear baking tray.

"Smells good," he said appreciatively.

"I know. Put it over there," Sue commanded, she pointed to a counter. Johnny obliged. As he walked over to the designated position he suddenly felt light headed. He put a hand on a chair to steady himself.

"You okay kid?" Ben asked?"

"Yeah, just feel a little woozy," Johnny muttered. He stumbled over to the counter.

"Careful," Sue warned.

"I am being careful," Johnny said defensively, the tray was balanced dangerously over his unbroken hand as if he were a waiter.

Suddenly Johnny felt a sharp pain in his hand. He dropped the tray and swore loudly. Apple crumble splattered over the floor and the tray cracked. Reed, Ben and Sue watched in stunned silence as Johnny struggled to turn on the tap and put his hand under cold water.

"What?" he asked warily when he noticed everyone was staring at him.

"Johnny," Sue said slowly, "did you just burn your hand?" It took Johnny a moment to realise what she meant. His eyes widened and he stared at his hands in disbelief. He nodded slowly, he immediately looked at Reed for some explanation but Reed looked clueless.

"B…but it's impossible," Johnny stuttered quietly. "W…w…what about my…my powers?"

VON DOOM TOWERS

Silence filled the room. Everyone stared, stunned, at the screens in front of them. The only person who didn't look surprised was Victor. A low groan broke the silence, everyone looked at Phillip.

The teenager began to squirm and moan louder, he looked…angry. He no longer looked tired and drugged. He was furious. Phillip got more and more agitated and the bonds on his arms and legs began to look strained. Victor nodded at Leonard and Leonard took a small remote control out of his pocket. He pressed a button and Phillip slowly stopped struggling. He quickly regained a pained and tired expression, within moments he was fast asleep.

A henchman quickly wheeled Phillip out of the room.

"Excuse Phillip, he is going through some…changes," Victor said, he exchanged a knowing look with SG who smirked.

"Well?" Victor asked his audience.

"Pure genius," Leonard said almost immediately.

"Great," SG said, he sounded impressed. Victor looked at Sofia.

"Cruel," she stated. Victor frowned.

"Cruel?" he asked.

"Isn't that what you were aiming for?" Sofia asked. "I don't mean I didn't like it, I just mean I love how cruel it is," she said quickly. Victor didn't look convinced, he flashed her a false smile.

"Cruel is my middle name," he said coldly.


	23. Powerless

**Disclaimer: You all know I don't own the Fantastic Four, if I did all the wonderful F4 stories on this site would be on TV or the silver screen and we would all be mega rich.**

**Author's note: Thank you all very much for all your reviews. Yes the last chapter was odd and yes I bet everyone was scratching their heads and wondering if I was high when I wrote the chapter. All will be revealed in due time my dears. I'm so close to the end I can taste…I just have to write it first. Anyhoo, enjoy!**

Ben stood in the doorway and watched Reed run frantically around his lab, searching for a random instrument to examine Johnny. Johnny was sitting on a stool still staring at his hand in shock. Sue was standing beside him and telling her husband to 'hurry up' and not to 'take all day'. Ben had been part of the chaos and tried to make a few jokes and cheer Johnny up but he was unsuccessful. Johnny hadn't laughed, he hadn't smiled and worst of all he hadn't made a joke himself about how crap Ben's jokes were. Ben sighed and left the slightly chaotic scene, he needed to hear a calm voice.

Ben went into his bedroom and sat on his bed, he took a few deep breaths and picked up his phone. He dialled Alicia's number and waited patiently as the familiar sound of a phone ringing buzzed through the rocks where his ears should be. To his surprise no one answered, Ben glanced at the clock beside his bed; it was read 19.52. Alicia always answered her phone; Ben hung up and tried the art gallery in case she had decided to work a little later than usual. There was no answer either. _Relax; she probably just went to Ernie's. _Ben resisted the idea to call the bar and check she was there. _She might even just be on her way home. _Ben made a mental note to call Alicia in half an hour before rejoining his friends. Ben decided against it, he would wait until everyone had calmed down and got over the initial shock of Johnny's accident before he helped out.

IN THE LAB

Reed looked at Johnny worriedly.

"Johnny?" Johnny jumped and looked up at Reed.

"Yeah?" he muttered.

"I was asking if you have taken anything recently,"

"Nope," Johnny confirmed.

"Anything from the doctor?" Reed asked hopefully. Johnny shook his head.

"Anything illegal?" Reed asked. Johnny glared at him.

"What are you trying to say?" Johnny asked suspiciously.

"Just answer the question," Reed said in a bored tone.

"Fine, no I have not," Johnny said coldly. Reed was about to move onto the next question when Sue interrupted him.

"Liar," she said accusingly.

"What?" Johnny asked in disbelief.

"I said you're lying," Sue said angrily.

"I'm not," Johnny protested.

"What is it this time, crack?" Sue asked.

"I haven't, I'm not and I won't ever take anything," Johnny said firmly.

"Oh really? Did you think I never knew you used to smoke?" Sue asked.

"Smoking is legal," Johnny said in a know-it-all voice.

"Marijuana?" Sue asked. Johnny's eyes widened before he regained his previous cool and calm composure.

"You know what? I love how you trust me so much-" Johnny said before Reed cut him off.

"Sue, maybe I should talk to Johnny alone," Reed suggested. Sue glared at him.

"Please?" Reed suggested. "You can talk about all this with Johnny afterwards," he added. Sue looked between her husband and brother. She sighed and stormed out the room without a word. Johnny released the breath he didn't know he had been holding and nodded at Reed gratefully.

"You are telling the truth aren't you?" Reed asked doubtfully.

"Of course! So…what's your next question?" Johnny asked.

"When was the last time you went out and where? Not for business…just, you know…out," Reed asked. Johnny frowned.

"Thursday afternoon…why?"

"Where did you go?" Reed asked.

"I went to show Darren my new car," Johnny said suspiciously.

"So you were at his house?"

"No, the garage."

"And I'm assuming you had some sort of beverage while you were there. Did someone else prepare it for you?" Reed asked. Johnny's frown deepened.

"We all had beers and I was the one who got them out of the mini fridge," Johnny replied. "Are you suggesting my friends did this?"

"Well we have to consider all possibilities," Reed said defensively. "Okay, what about here? Have you within the past week…erm…eaten a cake that didn't belong to anyone in the house…or…just had something that was moved by someone who doesn't live here."

Johnny was quiet for a few moments, if he was honest when it came to eating stuff that was just lying around he never asked who it belonged too. It just made him look like the culprit who had dared to eat the food. Then it hit him.

"The vodka," he murmured.

"The vodka? What vodka?"

"The vodka SG lay out for me. It wasn't so I got too drunk to catch him…it had something in it!"

Sue, who had been standing round the corner and eavesdropping, came into the room.

"What about the vodka?" she asked.

"It did this!" Johnny said pointing to his hand.

"You mean-" She began to say.

"Yep," Johnny said gravely. "SG just crossed the line." There was a moments silence before Reed spoke up.

"I think SG crossed the line the first time he sent Sue a letter."

VON DOOM TOWERS

Victor glared at the screen in front of him. Instead of showing him the Baxter building it showed a well-furnished apartment that Victor knew was about ten blocks away. His attention was focused on the person lounging on the sofa, Sofia. Of course she was completely unaware of this violation of her privacy, Leonard had installed the cameras when he had gone to her house briefly after the completion of phase three.

"Leonard get me any information you can on Sofia. I want to know more about her, where she comes from, what interests her and more importantly why she wants to help me," Victor commanded.

"Yes sir," Leonard replied and quickly left the room. Before he reached the door Victor said something else.

"Work with Mr Brown. Give him something to do other than stare at that damn child. Oh, and ring for Barbara, I would like for her to take over the child care."

"Of course sir," Leonard said without hesitation. He whipped out his Blackberry and started to make arrangements.

BAXTER BUILDING

Ben looked at the clock on his bedside table, as he promised himself he called Alicia half an hour later. There was no answer in her apartment or at the art gallery, he had left several messages and checked with Ernie to see if he had seen her. He was worried.

Ben also knew this wasn't the best time to desert his friends. Johnny was slowly driving himself crazy knowing that he was now powerless. Reed's early tests had proved that, they were still running tests now. Johnny was starting to get more and more desperate, as were Reed and Sue.

Ben knew it was wrong but what if Alicia was in danger? Now was not the time to just assume that everything was okay and that she was fine. Doctor Doom could be sitting on his 'throne' plotting against him right now. Victor knew that Alicia was, apart from the Fantastic Four, the only thing he had left in the world and as much as he hated to admit it, Victor was a clever man. He would know the best way to attack the man underneath the rocky exterior would be through his heart. Ben stood up and grabbed his trench coat; he put on the matching hat and left the room.

Reed, Sue and Johnny were all still in the lab, Johnny was hooked up to a machine and it looked like Reed and Sue were just running an ordinary health check. They looked surprised to see Ben dressed for an outing.

"Where are you going?" Reed asked bluntly.

"I, uh…I gotta go see Alicia," Ben muttered. Johnny glared.

"Yeah, just abandon me in my time of need why don't you," Johnny said angrily.

"Trust me, this is important," Ben mumbled.

"Important my ass," Johnny grumbled. "But never mind, go see your girlfriend. She definitely needs you more than me." Ben looked down guiltily and made his way towards the stairwell, for a moment he was tempted to take off his coat and hat and sit in on the experiment. _She needs me more, _he thought before going down the stairs.

Johnny glared at the spot where Ben had been standing. How could he? _If Ben was like this I'd never…wait, scratch that. He'd be happy about being normal. Well if he was in trouble I'd never ditch him for a date. _

"Johnny, concentrate," Sue reminded him.

"I am concentrating," Johnny muttered distractedly.

"Keep calm, don't get angry at Ben…I'm sure there is a perfectly good explanation for all this," Sue said soothingly.

"Yeah, she's really ill and needs some sexual healing," Johnny muttered bitterly.

"I said calm!" Sue said scolded. "You know what? Fine, we'll do this later." Then she turned to Reed. "Maybe we should put him in the chamber again." Reed nodded.

Minutes later Johnny was standing in his heatproof chamber. He stared at his hands, frustrated, clicking his fingers desperately and waiting for the tiniest spark.

"Anything?" Reed's voice rang out through speakers implanted into the chamber roof.

"No," Johnny shouted.

"Try and flame on," Sue suggested. Johnny gave up on clicking and concentrated on combusting.

"Flame on flame on flame on flame on flame on flame on," he repeated desperately. Eventually his voice started to crack and Sue could tell he was crying. She left the observation booth and opened the chamber with a force field. Johnny was leaning against the wall of the chamber with his head in his hands. Sue pulled him into a warm hug and let him cry on his shoulder. Reed watched from the booth, unsure of what to do. He felt like going down there for a group hug but he had a feeling Johnny wouldn't appreciate it. Reed wondered how Ben was getting on.

OUTSIDE ALICIA'S APARTMENT

"Alicia!" Ben shouted again but there was no answer. Ben would've thought Alicia was avoiding him but there was no way she would be able to tell when he was calling. He rapped on the door and waited, but there was no answer. The front door of the apartment opposite Alicia's opened and a woman stepped out with a baby in her arms.

"Would you mind keeping the noise down?" she asked angrily.

"Sorry ma'am, I was just looking for Alicia," Ben mumbled. The woman's face softened.

"Well I didn't see her come back from the gallery, she might be working late or be with her father."

"Thanks," Ben muttered gratefully

"And another thing, it might interest you that some policewoman was looking for her earlier too," the woman said.

"Police?" Ben stuttered.

"Yep, I dunno what she wanted thought, she kept her trap shut. Goodnight," the woman was back in her home before Ben could thank her again and bid her goodnight too.

Alicia's art studio wasn't far away and Ben was there within three minutes. He sighed when he noticed the lights were on, she had been working all night after all, her father was probably with her. Ben suddenly felt very stupid, now he would have to face being called a traitor or something along those lines by Johnny. Ben rapped on the door and waited patiently, it was after he was waiting for a half a minute that he became concerned. Ben knocked harder.

"Alicia?" he began to shout again. Ben became increasingly agitated after he shouted his girlfriend's name a few more times. Unable to take it anymore he punched the door and it gave a satisfying snap.

Ben stepped carefully into the art studio and smiled. The radio was on; Alicia liked to listen to music while she worked. His smile faded when he went into the next room and his heart stopped.


	24. Plan gone wrong

**Disclaimer: You know the score**

**Author's note: Thank you for your reviews, heh, now this is where the story starts to get complicated. Even I can't get my head round some of this stuff! It will all slot into place eventually, I promise. Today I just realised I'm not actually far off from finishing this story! I'd say about five more chapters max and I'm done! Anyway, enjoy the story and my apologies in advance for the lack of explanations. **

**Oh yeah! Last chapter I kinda forgot Johnny had his left arm in a cast so ignore any references to him using both hands and stuff. I did check but I might have left some in this chappy. **

Alicia lay face down on the smooth, wooden floorboards. Her limbs lay awkwardly, yet gracefully, around her. The only sound was the voice of a radio DJ babbling on about a new soul artist. Ben quickly came to his senses and rushed to his girlfriend's side. He gently picked her up and turned her over. Her face was peaceful and at first Ben thought she had just fallen asleep. Then he noticed she wasn't breathing.

VON DOOM TOWERS

_I want to know exactly who that man thinks he is. Okay so he's Victor Von Doom and he used to be one of the most influential people in the world. But not anymore! So why exactly is he still under the firm belief that he has such power. Is he forgetting that without the help of me, Leonard, Phillip and now Sofia he would be nowhere? Is he forgetting that there is nothing he could actually do if we all turned against him? And does he honestly believe that his workers will stand by his side if he does not meet their required working conditions?_

_I don't ask much of Victor, I'm easy to please and my pleasing doesn't complicate things for him in anyway. Yet he sees it fit to rid me of the small things I need. It was bad enough when he 'grounded' me but now he is really taking the piss. What did I say to Victor? What did I ask of him, only that I had a connection to the Baxter Building penthouse mainframe and that he does not hurt Susan. I then asked if I could be in charge of childcare. So what does Victor do now? Only take the baby away from me and tell me that if I dare to leave the tower I will suffer greatly. Then he stuck me in front of a computer and made me hack into files belonging to the secret service about any information they had on Sofia. I will not forget this._

_Maybe he thinks we are no longer needed now that he has a flurry of henchmen and henchwomen. All the poor people who have been left unemployed as a result of the closing of Von Doom Industries have been recruited. I don't see the point; these people were not trained to be fighters. Their skills lie in bartering and making phone calls, not fighting off a bunch of superheroes. They must be very stupid, very depressed or quite odd. By joining Victor and becoming a henchperson they have signed their own death warrants. Poor people. I wonder if they are aware of what they have got themselves in for. I certainly wouldn't like to bump into the Mr Fantastic or The Thing in a dark alley. I guess The Human Torch doesn't really count now he is powerless. _

_I wonder how they are doing right now, the Fantastic Four I mean. Last time I looked, The Human Torch was in tears and I think Susan was the same. Mr Fantastic was trying to see what was wrong with The Human Torch and The Thing was on a quest to find the blind girl. Somehow I don't think they will make it through these testing times, I can already see a strain on the brotherly relationship between The Thing and The Human Torch._

BAXTER BUILDING

"The general thing is you're completely normal, I can tell you that nothing is out of the ordinary…apart from the fact that you're normal. The only change is in your DNA, it's as if you never came into space," Reed explained to a worried looking Johnny.

"Everything's okay?" Johnny asked sceptically.

"Well you are exactly the same as you were two years ago," Reed replied.

"So my temperature's normal and stuff? Which normal? My normal or normal normal?" Johnny asked.

"Normal normal. 37 degrees centigrade," Sue said quietly. Reed's office fell into a sad, uncomfortable silence. The silence hung in the air for two minutes before it was interrupted. The sound of the Fantastic Four theme tune from the animated television series rang through the room. Reed reached into the pocket of his lab coat and pulled out a sleek dark blue circular communicator. The number four on the screen flashed orange; alerting Reed that Ben was trying to contact him. The four would change colour according to who was calling. When Johnny called it would turn red, Reed was a light blue (he hadn't been bothered about a change in colour) and Sue flashed dark blue so it looked like the four was disappearing and reappearing.

Reed pressed the call acceptance button on his communicator and watched as Ben's face flashed up onto the screen.

"Ben?" Reed asked. Ben looked scared; it wasn't a side to him that Reed saw often. Johnny's head snapped up at the sound of his team-mates name. He stood up and walked over to Reed to look at Ben, Sue quickly joined her family.

"Ben, are you okay?" Sue asked worriedly. She immediately picked up on his worry; Johnny, however, was completely oblivious to Ben's feelings.

"Yeah, how's life as a traitor?" Johnny asked.

"Johnny!" Sue hissed.

"What? He left! He left to be with his stupid girlfriend! I'd do a lot of things but I would never do such a thing," Johnny said defensively. Reed rolled his eyes despite the fact that Johnny had a point.

"What's wrong?" He asked to start the conversation.

"It's Alicia," Ben said quietly. "I think she might be dead."

VON DOOM TOWERS

SG didn't bother to knock; he strode into Victor's office defiantly. It had the desired effect; Victor sat with a phone glued to his ear and a surprised look on his face.

"I'll call you back," Victor said distractedly to the person on the other end of the line and hung up without waiting for a reply.

"Mr Brown, I trust you are here because you have completed your assignment," Victor said calmly, all evidence of his surprise was now gone. SG threw the papers in his hand on the table in front of him.

Leonard ran in the room, clearly out of breath, with an excited look on his face. He slowed to a walk as he neared SG and gathered the papers up neatly before walking over to Victor and handed the documents over.

"Thank you Leonard," Victor said in his usual smug tone.

"I need to talk to you Victor," SG said angrily. "All I asked is that-" Leonard cut him off.

"Sir, I think it might interest you to know they have discovered the body," Leonard flashed SG an apologetic look. SG glared at him. Victor smirked.

"They have, have they?" he said unable to hide the glee in his voice. He spun the throne around to face his screens and turned them on with the remote.

SG's anger drained away and was instead replaced by curiosity.

"What body?" he asked. To his disappointment, SG was ignored. He walked up behind Victor and Leonard and watched the monitor in interest.

ALICIA'S ART STUDIO

The sound of a car speeding followed by car doors slamming shut echoed down the quiet street. Ben didn't have to look out the window to know it was his friends. Only Johnny would speed down a quiet street, emergency or not. There was the sound of footsteps and then Reed, Sue and Johnny appeared in the doorway.

Ben sat on his knees holding Alicia's body close to his chest. He didn't look up when his team entered the room. Reed and Sue were at his side in an instant; Johnny hovered in the doorway, unsure of what to do.

Johnny admired some of the sculptures as Reed and Sue took Alicia out of Ben's hands. Sue lead Ben to a custom made chair Alicia had installed and sat him down.

"We should probably call the police," Sue said to her husband. Reed nodded and checked Alicia for a pulse. A small smile crept across his face.

"And an ambulance," he added.

Ben looked up. "Ambulance?" he asked.

"There's a faint pulse, if we can get her to a hospital in time I think she'll survive," Reed explained. A small smile crept across Ben's face and he hastily reached for Alicia's phone. He groaned as he crushed the delicate buttons in his haste.

"Somebody phone!" he commanded.

"Already on it," Johnny muttered, his cell phone glued to his ear.

VON DOOM TOWERS

SG and Leonard watched nervously as Victor's face slowly turned from red to purple and back to red again.

"Bring me Sofia," Victor managed to say calmly, Leonard gulped at the psychotic edge to his voice. He nodded and left the room as quickly as he could without making it look like he was grateful to get away.

SG looked down at his feet nervously and ran a hand through his hair.

"I guess that could've gone better," he said nervously. Victor shot SG a filthy look and clenched his fists. The two stayed in an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes until Victor spoke.

"What did you find out about Sofia?" SG was silent for a few moments.

"She's just a regular girl. Nothing special about her, no convictions, no problems," SG trailed off when he realised Victor wasn't listening to him. Victor was instead, reading the papers that had been brought to him earlier.

"She is of Latverian descent," Victor murmured as he flicked through the pages.

"Yeah, I noticed…Listen Victor, I need to talk to you about something," SG said nervously.

"Go on," Victor said distractedly.

"Well it's about-" SG was cut off as the doors to Victor's office flew open and Sofia walked in followed by Leonard.

"You wanted to see me?" she asked, she was clearly unable to mask the annoyance in her voice.

"Yes," Victor said calmly. "She's still alive." Sofia's eyes widened and she stared at him in disbelief.

"She's what?" she asked.

"Alive. Did she drink it all?" Victor asked.

"Well yes. I saw her…I put the whole bottle in and I stayed there until she drank it all!" Sofia protested. Victor regarded the girl in front of him, he had hoped that Sofia would be like his secret weapon, something the four never saw coming. But now it looked like all she would do is leave a trail of clues behind her.

"Okay," Victor said reluctantly. "You may go," Sofia scowled as he waved his hand dismissively at her but left the room anyway.

"You're keeping her?" Leonard asked doubtfully once Sofia was out of earshot.

"Why not? She may not be as efficient as I hoped but I believe she will be useful in other ways," Victor said distractedly. SG looked at Victor is surprise.

"Victor, surely you can't be serious. She just showed up, she doesn't even have a motive for helping us!" SG protested.

"But for now she might be all we have," Victor muttered.


	25. Missing

**Disclaimer: You know the drill, I don't own the Fantastic Four yada yada ya.**

**Author's note: Well thank you very much for your reviews, I'm sorry I didn't update sooner but these things happen when you go on holiday. Anyway, I bet everyone will hate me after reading this chapter and if I'm honest I would hate me too but I don't :D. Enjoy!**

Johnny slumped against the wall and sighed for the umpteenth time. He was sure Ambulances were supposed to get to their destination as quickly as possible, not stop off at Starbucks for a coffee, drop off their dry cleaning and then go and save someone's life. He glanced at his phone impatiently; it had been sixteen minutes since he called.

Ben had regained his original position on the floor and was now holding Alicia in his arms again. Reed and Sue were discussing what might have happened. Johnny hated to sound like a jerk but he couldn't help but be slightly annoyed that all this was happening. He had been the centre of attention up until now and he didn't take to being pushed aside too well. Once Ben called everyone had completely forgotten he was now powerless. He knew it was wrong to think so, but Johnny wished Alicia's timing had been a little better. He wished she had chosen a date a month from now to have a near death experience. In other words when he was done soaking up all the sympathy.

Johnny sighed again and kicked a chunk of broken glass lying on the floor. He frowned. _Broken glass?_ He looked closely and noticed it wasn't the only piece. Johnny was standing in a layer of tiny shards of the material. Johnny knelt down to get a closer look.

"Ben? Does Alicia do stuff with glass?" Johnny asked. Ben frowned.

"Whaddya mean do stuff with glass?" he replied.

"You know, art. Sculptures and stuff," Johnny answered.

"No…why?"

"There's just loads of broken glass over here," Johnny said.

"Glass?" Reed stretched over to where Johnny was crouched to see what he was talking about.

"She may have just dropped a glass," Johnny said nonchalantly. Reed shook his head.

"I think it was something more," he muttered and leaned down for a closer look.

The faint sound of an ambulance siren caught the ears of Ben and he managed to smile a little. He looked down at Alicia and kissed her lightly on the forehead. "Not long now," he whispered reassuringly. The siren became louder as the ambulance drew closer.

"Johnny, go and greet them," Sue instructed. Johnny sighed, rolled his eyes and left the room. Shortly after the siren abruptly stopped and Johnny reappeared followed two men and a woman.

"Well, what have we got?" One of the men asked. He was very tall and thin and reminded Johnny of a boy he had known at school nicknamed 'String bean'. Reed, who had been staring at the glass, stood up and joined the newcomers.

"We don't know. We just found her lying on the floor, I don't think she's breathing but she has a faint pulse," he summarised. Ben put Alicia down gently and watched as the woman felt for a pulse.

"We need to get her back to base ASAP," the woman commanded. Ben raised his eyebrows, she spoke like she had come straight from a top secret military base. Automatically Ben looked at Johnny and visa versa, the two exchanged looks and they both smiled. Johnny's smile quickly faded as he remembered he was still mad at Ben and he looked away.

The two men disappeared and reappeared with a stretcher. They quickly loaded Alicia onto the stretcher and carried her out the building. The Fantastic Four followed them and watched, as Alicia was loaded into the vehicle. Army girl, (as Ben had decided to dub her,) and her silent companion, (the other man,) got into the ambulance but String bean hesitated and looked at Ben.

"Are you coming?" he asked. Ben shook his head.

"I wouldn't fit. I'll, er, drive there," he muttered. String Bean nodded sympathetically.

"Rodney!" Army girl shouted from the drivers seat. String Bean/Rodney pulled a face and climbed into the ambulance, he smiled at Ben and slammed the doors shut.

The Fantastic Four watched as the Ambulance drove off and stood in the street until the sound of the sirens had faded into the distance.

"We should probably get going," Reed stated, drawing everyone out of their own quiet thoughts. Everyone nodded in agreement apart from Johnny.

"You guys go ahead; I'm gonna go home," he said quietly. He threw his car keys at Reed.

"I'll walk," Johnny added at Reed's surprised look. Sue watched her brother suspiciously.

"Don't drink any alcohol at home," Sue warned.

"I won't touch anything at home," Johnny promised. "Take care of her," he added to Reed over his shoulder as he began to walk off. He was gone before Sue could say she meant for him not to drink anywhere.

A BAR ON YANCY STREET

Johnny had intended to go straight home; he hadn't really been in the mood to go anywhere else. At least that's how he had been feeling until Sue had told him not to drink anything. The last time he had disobeyed his sister he had lost his powers, so he found a loophole in the rule. Sue had instructed him not to touch a drop of alcohol at home, so he hadn't. He didn't have to go very far to find a bar, he turned a corner and it had been sitting lazily in front of him.

Johnny entered the bar slowly and sat down in a corner at the counter. He had come to the bar before with Ben a few times; Ben always mumbled something about it being like a second home to him. Johnny thought that always made Ben sound like an alcoholic.

"Johnny! What can I do for ya?" the bartender asked brightly. He quickly made his way over to where Johnny was sitting.

"Hey Ernie…er, I'm not bothered. Something strong," Johnny said quietly. Ernie raised his eyebrows curiously.

"Something strong? I got just the thing," Ernie wandered off to the other end of the counter and reappeared a minute later holding a small glass filled with a clear liquid. Johnny accepted the drink and nodded gratefully.

AT THE HOSPITAL

It took Reed, Ben and Sue twenty minutes to drive to the nearest hospital. It had been a long, antagonising twenty minutes. Ben had spent the whole journey voicing his concerns, yelling at other drivers and telling Reed to hurry up. Reed drove as quickly as he dared without being pulled over by the police; he also drove carefully, taking care not to hit anything on the way. They all knew very well that Johnny would kill him if there were a single scratch scratch.

Then it had taken a while for them to find somewhere to park. They ended up having to park Johnny's car quite far away. It would have taken them ten minutes to reach the hospital from their parking space but Reed and Sue had to run to keep up with Ben's colossal strides. They reached the hospital in five minutes.

"Excuse me ma'am," Ben said to the young girl sitting at the counter. The receptionist looked up from her crossword in the paper and flashed Ben a dazzling smile.

"Hi, how can I help you?" she asked brightly.

"We're looking for a woman called Alicia Masters, she should have arrived here not too long ago," Reed said answered.

"She came in an ambulance," Sue added quickly. The receptionist frowned.

"Excuse me," she said before turning to face the doctor checking something on the computer behind her.

"Have we had any ambulance calls lately?" she asked. The doctor nodded.

"I sent Rodney and co to Yancy Street a few minutes ago."

"Are they back yet?" the receptionist asked. The doctor shrugged.

The receptionist turned back to the three superheroes waiting patiently, or at least two of them were.

"Well?" Ben asked.

"I haven't seen anyone arrive in an ambulance for at least three hours," the receptionist admitted. "You could go to the waiting area for A&E. Ask the people down there if she's in theatre or something like that. It's the second room on the left."

"Ok, thank you," Sue said gratefully before following Ben and Reed who were already far ahead.

The waiting room was full of people, uneasy chatter covered up the noise of the television screen hanging on the wall. Ben was the first to reach the desk.

"Hi, uh, could you tell me if a woman named Alicia Masters has arrived here yet? She left her workplace from an ambulance about half an hour ago," Ben said to the receptionist. The woman frowned and shook her head.

"We haven't had any ambulances drop people off for a while honey," she said sympathetically. "Are you sure this is the right hospital?"

"Well it is the closest and she was unconscious," Reed replied impatiently.

"I'm sorry, maybe you should try St. James," the receptionist said before returning her attention to the forms in front of her.

Ben couldn't breathe. Was this a joke? If she wasn't at the hospital then where was she?

A SMALL BAR ON YANCY STREET

Three more drinks later Johnny still sat mournfully by himself. He tuned off to the noise of the bar and wandered loosely through his own thoughts. He could understand why Ben came here every week. No one bothered him, no one asked any questions about the cast on his arm and no one was asking him about his team-mates. Most of the people in there were regulars, they were used to seeing The Thing almost every Saturday night. The sound of a door slamming open pulled him back into reality. All eyes turned to the door as three people dragged themselves into the room. All of them were dressed in hospital uniforms. The two men were supporting their female companion between them. Ernie rushed from behind the counter and helped the men carry the woman into an empty booth near Johnny. Johnny listened curiously to their conversation.

"What happened?" Ernie asked. One of the men answered him.

"We were just driving to our destination when a man waved us down, he said his friends was hurt. We got out and sure enough there was a guy lying on the floor with blood all over his leg and a girl kneeling next to him. We decided to take the guy to the ambulance. Now I was driving so I didn't see what happened next but the next thing I knew the 'injured' guy was holding a gun to my head and telling me to stop the car and get out. He already knocked these two out," the man gestured to his companions. "We thought it was kinda odd that they were dressed like they worked at the hospital with us but we never thought they'd steal our ambulance."

"They stole your ambulance?" Ernie asked. "Well where were you guys headed?"

"108 Yancy Street," the girl managed to say. Ernie stiffened.

"108?" he asked. The three people nodded.

"You know the person who lives there?" one of the men asked. Ernie nodded and turned around to face Johnny.

"Hey Johnny, doesn't Alicia work at the art studio…" he trailed off; Johnny was already out the door.

AT THE HOSPITAL

Ben sat silently with his eyes closed on the floor; he listened to Reed talk to the hospital staff and Sue sip herbal tea. He'd been sitting with his back to the wall for five minutes now, he couldn't think of anything else. Ben waited; he waited for the doors a few feet away to fly open. He waited to see doctors and nurses crowded around a trolley. He waited to stand up and see his girlfriend lying amid the chaos peacefully. _Any minute now. _

Ben slowly opened his eyes, the receptionist was starting to get sick of Reed, Ben could tell. She spoke impatiently and kept glaring at him.

"I told you, there is absolutely nothing I can do," the receptionist said through clenched teeth.

"Nothing?" Reed asked her sceptically. "Don't you have tracking devices on your ambulances in case they go AWOL?"

"I'm sorry, maybe you didn't hear me the first time. I can't help you!" The receptionist said angrily, she had dropped her smile now.

Ben closed his eyes again and focused his mind on Alicia. Where could she be? Why was she missing? Was she alive?

Ben had gathered up a few ideas already, this had Doom written all over it. He would've seen Alicia and decided to take advantage of everything. Would he kill her? _Nah, he'd capture me and make me watch. _The idea made Ben's blood run cold, he didn't know what he would do if he didn't have Alicia. Everything would become pointless, of course he always had his friends but what was friendship compared to what he had with the sculptress?

"Johnny?" Sue calling out the superhero's name made Ben open his eyes briefly. He looked Johnny up and down and closed his eyes. Johnny was standing with his sister by the door; he was out of breath and wearing his suit. From his position on the floor Ben could smell the alcohol on Johnny's breath. Apparently so could Sue.

"Have you been drinking?" she asked suspiciously.

"That's not important," Johnny said dismissively. "Is Alicia here?"

"No, we don't know where she is," Sue said in a way that made it clear she couldn't really believe what she was saying.

"Well I do," Ben's eyes snapped open, Reed stopped arguing with the receptionist and Sue stared at her brother.

"Well I don't know where she is," Johnny admitted. Sue rolled her eyes, "but I think I know what happened to her," he added quickly. Ben stood up and went over to join Johnny. Reed quickly followed.

"Well?" Reed pressed.

"I was at Ernie's when these three people came in, they were wearing ambulance clothes and stuff and they looked pretty bad. Anyway, the guy told Ernie that they were on their way to the studio when a guy asked them to help his friend. They let these two guys and this girl into the ambulance and then these guys and the girl pulled out guns and beat them up pretty bad. I'm guessing they were the ones who took Alicia and…I'm guessing they aren't real ambulance people either."

There was a tense silence as everyone processed what they had just heard. Reed was the first to speak.

"Okay Johnny, I need you to do another drawing. Draw the ambulance staff and then we can ask questions about them. The rest of us should go and ask around and see if people have seen the ambulance. Maybe we could track it down with eye witnesses."

"Cool," Johnny agreed. "Shall I go home?"

"I don't care where you go, just draw," Reed commanded. Johnny raised his eyebrows and left his companions for the Baxter Building.

"Should we split up?" Sue asked. Reed nodded.

"Lets go to Yancy Street and knock on doors, if we split up we can get this done quicker. The quicker the better, we want people to remember which way the ambulance went."


	26. A new development

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Fantastic Four, if I did I'd be in Vancouver watching them film right now…wouldn't that be great?**

**Author's note: Thanks for all the reviews coming my way and I'm sorry for the gap in between updates. I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is, I'm not that far off from the end…that may change soon though. The bad news is the gap between updates is only going to get bigger now school has started. I'm starting my GCSEs this year and so my Dad has declared that Fan Fiction and The Sims are weekend only activities. Do not fear; I'll crack him soon. : P**

**BTW, the first nine speeches are completely different people, just one of the effects that work better in films I think but oh well. Enjoy!**

"Well I think I did see an ambulance pass by not too long ago. I would think it went to the hospital. Do you know where it is? I think I have a map…"

"Ambulance? I haven't got time to be looking out for such things, you're a mother, you should understand! At least you have a man by you side, try being single with three kids under twelve! "

"I saw an ambulance about seven hours ago, I got pretty scared when it stopped next door."

"I didn't see an ambulance but I saw a limo! It was real nice, I took a picture, wanna see? I'll just get it…Hey! Where you going, don't you wanna see the limo?"

"You mean the one that stopped at the art studio? Nope, didn't see it."

"My mommy says I'm not supposed to talk to strangers…or open the front door, even if it is The Thing…will you say it's clobberin' time?"

"I don't want to buy anything!"

"Maybe you should come inside and have a cup of coffee. I might just remember if I did see one…is it true you can stretch _any_ part of your body?"

"Well well, if it isn't Johnny Storm. Take that! No one stands up Nina Lease and gets away with it…well, when you put it like that…okay, see you Friday."

The Fantastic Four continued their fruitless search for two hours, by the time they were finished it was almost midnight and most people were refusing to open their doors. _Who can blame 'em_, Ben thought sadly. Everything was okay for them; they didn't have to deal with the loss of loved ones or powers or saving the world on a day-to-day basis. Their biggest dilemma was probably running out of milk. Ben looked at his three friends. Reed and Sue were walking in front, Reed had an arm around Sue's shoulders and he held her close to him. Johnny lagged behind with his hands in his pockets and his head down. They all walked in silence.

"We shouldn't stand for this," Johnny said suddenly, everyone turned to look at him.

"What do you mean?" Reed asked as he let out a yawn.

"I mean Victor's crossed the line and he keeps going further! I mean c'mon, he stole you baby, took my powers and then kidnapped your half dead girlfriend. You can't tell me we're still gonna stand around and wait for him to make another move," Johnny looked around at his team-mates desperately.

"And what exactly are you gonna do?" Ben snapped. Johnny looked down with a hurt look on his face. He shrugged.

"Something," he mumbled.

"I think the one thing we can all do is get some rest, we've had a long day. We should continue our search for the impostors in the morning," Reed announced. Johnny fought the urge to ask why his problem wasn't on the 'urgent' list. _Why are we gonna spend so long finding Alicia, we spent less time looking for Franklin for god sake. _

THE NEXT DAY - BAXTER BUILDING

Sue stirred in her sleep as she felt someone kiss her lightly on the forehead. She opened her eyes just in time to see him disappear from the door of her room. She smiled slightly and sat up slowly, she yawned and turned over to look at the clock on her bedside table. Instead her eyes met a large bouquet of sunflowers in a glass vase. Sue smiled again and reached for the small card that was nestled in between the flowers. She opened up the card and read the message; her smile vanished.

_Don't worry; everything will be fine. Love…_

Dread washed over Sue and she quickly got out of bed, she grabbed her silk dressing gown and put on her slippers. She quickly made her way to Reed's office. It was empty.

Sue searched the lab but he was nowhere to be found, Sue gave up and went into the living quarters; she still couldn't find him. She ended her search in the living room. Her brother was lying on the sofa watching MTV; he sat up and turned to look her when she walked into the room.

"Reed told me to tell you he went with Ben to track down Alicia," Johnny said casually.

"Okay, did he just leave?" Sue asked hopefully.

"Nah, he left about half an hour ago," Johnny said distractedly. Sue's blood suddenly ran cold, if Reed hadn't just kissed her then who had? Johnny certainly wouldn't do it.

"Oh yeah! And he told me to tell you to watch the news cos they keep talking about Franklin," Johnny added. Sue's worry was quickly redirected to her baby.

"Franklin? What happened? Do they know where he is? Do they know what happened?"

"Calm down, they just got a lead on the case or something like that. I dunno, watch the TV," Johnny handed his sister the remote and left her alone. Sue immediately switched over to CNN. They were reporting a scandal involving a random politician. Sue switched channels until she found the story she was looking for.

"_Police are currently looking for a middle aged white woman who was seen with the baby in a toy shop, she appeared nervous around authorities and at one point was hiding the baby from sight. Witnesses who were already suspicious of her alerted authorities when she began to call the child Franklin and mentioning the late Victor Von Doom. Police believe she is part of a Latverian cult who prophesised his return…" _Sue listened intently to the woman on the television screen. She listened as she went into greater deal about the cult, Victor's death and the woman Franklin was seen with.

YANCY STREET

"We're never gonna find her," Ben wailed. He was sat on the curb outside Alicia's studio; Reed was beside him.

"Don't say that, negative thinking won't get us anywhere," Reed said but he too had to admit everything looked hopeless. Alicia and the ambulance she was in seemed to have disappeared into thin air. Reed had considered going to the press again but Ben had firmly disagreed. He didn't want to have to deal with more pressure about the Fantastic Four 'losing it'.

"Yeah, well just cos you think happy thoughts don't mean everything will work out for you," Ben grumbled.

"True, but sometimes it does help. It also means you aren't wallowing around in self-pity all the time," Reed pointed out.

"I'm wallowing around in self-pity?" Ben asked angrily.

"No! That's not what I meant-" Ben cut Reed off.

"Then what do you mean?"

"I mean that…that this isn't going to help us in any way. Sitting here isn't going to bring us Alicia," Reed explained. Ben sighed.

"You're right. This is hopeless, we should really be looking for that lady that has your baby."

"Nothing's hopeless," Reed corrected. "If the team splits in two I think we could find Alicia and Franklin. Come on, let's go home." The two friends stood up and slowly walked back to the Baxter Building.

BAXTER BUILDING

The Fantastic Four sat round a table in the centre of the lab discussing plans for the day. They had agreed that Reed and Sue would search for the woman, who had now been identified as Barbara Lawson, and Ben and Johnny would look for for Alicia.

"But where exactly are you guys gonna look?" Johnny asked Reed and Sue.

"The police are searching her home. We'll start there, maybe contact her friends or family."

"What if she's a loner? Someone with loads of friends wouldn't steal a baby would they?" Johnny asked.

"You'd be surprised kid. Not everyone who commits a crime is a hermit," Ben pointed out.

"Then what do we do? Cos we can't go back to Yancy street, everyone knows we're not gonna find anything there," Johnny said in a know-it-all voice.

"He's right, you two can't go back there," Sue said.

"Well where can we start?" Ben asked.

"You could just knock on doors again," Reed suggested.

"No!" Johnny protested. "Lets just…search alleyways and see if we find a body." Johnny clamped his free hand over his mouth and looked worriedly at Ben to see his reaction.

"Sorry man, I didn't mean it like that-"

"Forget about it," Ben said tersely.

"Seriously, I really didn't-"

"I said drop it!" Ben shouted. Johnny bit back the urge to tell him he actually said 'forget about it' and sank into his chair. He didn't even know why he was apologising to Ben; he was still slightly annoyed about Ben abandoning him the day before. _It's probably because he looks so sad; _this was true. All of Ben's features seemed to droop and he walked around looking defeated. Johnny cursed his compassionate side and tuned back into the conversation going on around him.

"It's a big city, for all we know they could already be out of it. How do we know they haven't already left the state?" Sue asked.

"Well I believe we can safely say Barbara hasn't gone anywhere," Reed concluded.

"But what about the ambulance?" Sue asked with a worried look at Ben.

"That's easy," Johnny declared. "All we gotta do is think like the enemy. I can't really think like an old lady but these ambulance guys are easy!"

"Oh yeah? And what did you have in mind?" Ben asked sceptically.

"Okay, picture this. You've just stolen an ambulance, what are you gonna do?" Johnny asked. Reed, Sue and Ben looked at him blankly, Johnny sighed and rolled his eyes.

"You get rid of it. You can't drive around in stolen property, especially something that stands out so much like an ambulance," Johnny said as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

"So how would you get rid of it?" Ben asked, all his doubt was gone and he was now genuinely interested.

"You change it. A fake number plate and a new paint job equal a whole new car. No one would even notice. If you drive sensibly and don't draw attention to yourself you can get from A to B without getting stopped by the cops. Cos you know, once they catch you they might investigate your car and discover your number plate is fake or something. When you get to B you can take it apart and sell the parts or something like that." Silence filled the room after Johnny's explanation; everyone was shocked at his sudden knowledge.

"I don't even want to know how you know all this stuff," Sue said in distaste, Johnny beamed at his sister in reply.

"So where do we go?" Ben asked.

"You should visit all the mechanics in the area-" Reed announced.

"Not likely," Johnny cut in. "Real criminals know you can't go some place that will have loads of people hanging around. What if they leave a little bit of evidence behind by accident?"

"Well then where will they go?" Reed asked, slightly annoyed than Johnny had suddenly become the fountain of knowledge.

"Are there any real dumps near that hospital?" Johnny asked. Ben's eyes widened and he nodded slowly.

"They shut off half of the hospital after there was a fire, they say it's not safe and there are gas leaks and all sorts."

"Perfect! Everyone will think they're going towards the hospital, once they turn off the siren and go some place quite they'll lose attention. Then they just go into the deserted part of the hospital, change the ambulance and bam! They're off the hook. All we gotta do is search the place for anything they may have left behind or stuff that shows they were there."

"But you can't go into the hospital," Sue said to Johnny.

"Why not?" Johnny asked in disbelief. "It's not like I'll blow the place sky high."

"Yeah well you're pretty much defenceless now and I won't have you in there. Look at the state of you," she gestured to the cast on Johnny's arm.

"Sue! You can't let Ben go alone, it's not fair!" Johnny protested.

"And what happens if people are waiting for you in the hospital, then what are you gonna do?"

"Ben would protect me," Johnny said with a desperate glance at Ben.

"Yeah of course," Ben mumbled distractedly, he clearly wasn't listening to anything anyone was saying. Sue glared at her husband, immediately Reed joined the debate.

"Maybe Sue's right," he said calmly. Johnny ran a hand through his hair and looked at the people around him.

"I don't believe this. C'mon Ben, don't you want some company?" Johnny pleaded. Ben stared forlornly at the table; he jumped when Johnny called his name.

"Huh?" he grunted.

"Stay here," Sue commanded. "I'll be watching you," she added menacingly. She stood up and left the room. Reed and Ben quickly followed her, giving apologetic looks to Johnny. Johnny sat in his chair glaring at the doorway; he put his head in his hand and exhaled loudly. _Think Johnny think. _He stood up and began to inspect the equipment around him. _There's gotta be something here to help me. _


	27. Body

**Disclaimer: You know the score**

**Author's note: Thank you very much for all your lurvely reviews, (I really have to stop using that word) it makes me happy to log on after a week and see lots of people are enjoying the story. My second week back at school and I'm already flooded in homework, it's crazy! I think I won't be updating for a very long time, so my apologies. Enjoy!**

_Bingo!_ Johnny grinned as he spotted four cases, all of which were different sizes - big enough to fit the four in. He walked over to them and stopped outside the case that read 'The Human Torch'. He opened it and his smile grew as he came face to face with himself.

DENMORE STREET

The small house on the corner of the long road was sectioned off, the road had been closed and passers by were quickly shooed away. Police vans and cars were gathered around the street corner and dozens of people in uniform were standing around talking, taking notes or interviewing residents. Amid the sea of navy blue stood Reed and Sue, hand in hand they followed the detective in charge around the home of Barbara Lawson.

"Well what I can tell you is that she lives alone, she divorced her husband a few years ago and they never had a children; she's infertile. She's worked in schools and kindergartens across this state and she worked in the cafeteria at Von Doom Towers," the detective explained, he stopped by the mantelpiece and handed Reed the clipboard.

"I'll leave you to it," he said with a worried glance at the couple and quickly left the room.

"Thanks," Reed muttered. Sue moved closer to the mantelpiece and picked up a photo in a silver frame. She stared hard at the picture, trying to imagine the woman as a hardened criminal but it just didn't work. The woman, who she assumed was Barbara, looked quite small and plump. She had a mop of auburn hair up to her shoulders and she was smiling. Her brown eyes sparkled and her head was positioned so she was looking at the man with his arm around her shoulders. Sue could only assume he was Barbara's ex-husband. Sue resisted the urge to throw the photo frame at the wall and put it down calmly in its correct place.

"What's wrong?" Reed asked his wife though the answer was pretty obvious.

"Why? Why would she do this? She doesn't look like someone who would do such a thing," Sue wailed, she was quite aware she was beginning to make about as much sense as her brother.

"I have no idea," Reed admitted and pulled his wife into his arms.

"How does SG tie into all of this?" Sue asked suddenly. "He left the letter, he was there and he told me Franklin was safe. How does he know?"

"Maybe he just entrusted Franklin with Barbara, they may be close friends or relatives," Reed suggested. The stood in silence for a few moments, Sue broke it and mumbled,

"Why us?"

THE HOSPITAL

Ben pushed debris out of his way as he walked through the black corridors. Despite the fact that it was bright and sunny outside the hospital was dark. Most of the windows had been boarded up and the hospital was in the shadows of it's more up to date neighbour. Ben made his way into what was once the waiting room, it was a large space and seemed like the perfect place to makeover an ambulance.

The waiting room was brighter than the rest of the hospital. Light flooded through the huge hole in the wall. Burnt plastic chairs were in a heap in the corner and pieces of the ceiling and the receptionist's desk littered the floor. The whole room had a ghostly presence, the silence was deafening.

**CRASH!**

Ben jumped and turned around to the source of the noise, he was both relieved and annoyed at the sight before him. Johnny stood in the doorway; the chair he had disturbed had tumbled into the middle of the room.

"Hey," Johnny said with a sheepish grin.

"What are you doing here?" Ben asked impatiently.

"I came to help you," Johnny replied brightly. He walked over to where Ben was standing and looked around the room.

"I thought Sue told you to stay at home," Ben said, Johnny's cheerful behaviour was already beginning to get on his nerves.

"Yeah, well Sue doesn't really know what she's talking about. Why exactly would evil henchmen be hanging out here waiting for us to show up? Plus you have no idea what you're looking for."

"And you do?" Ben asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes, I do know what I'm looking for."

"Well," Ben prompted. "What are we looking for?"

"I'll know it when I see it," Johnny said confidently. Ben rolled his eyes and suddenly noticed Johnny's sling was missing. He asked Johnny of it's whereabouts.

"Robo-Johnny has it," Johnny said casually. Ben frowned.

"Robo-Johnny? As in the robot clones Reed made?" Ben asked. Johnny nodded happily.

"When Sue checks up on me it needs to look like my arm is broken," Johnny explained.

"So you set up Robo-Johnny so Sue thinks you're still at home?" Ben asked.

"Yeah, man you're really slow today. You feeling okay?"

"I'm fine," Ben said dismissively.

"You sure? You don't sound it," Ben couldn't work out if Johnny was mocking him or if he was genuinely being sympathetic.

"So, seen what you're looking for?" Ben asked, quickly changing the subject. Johnny noticed but left it alone, he grinned and pointed to the pile of chairs in the corner.

"That," he announced.

"Chairs?" Ben asked sceptically. He followed Johnny to the corner of the room. Johnny walked over to the chairs and pushed one of them to see if they had been melted together. They hadn't. Johnny struggled to move the chairs one by one away from the corner with one hand; Ben quickly noticed and gently pushed him aside.

"Lemme do it," he muttered and began to shove the chairs around. When he was half way through the task he stopped and turned around. It suddenly occurred to him that he was happily taking orders from Johnny. Ben didn't take orders from Johnny.

"And I'm doing this because?" he asked. Johnny, who was watched him with a serious look on his face, scratched his chin.

"I wanna know if these chairs are hiding something or if they've been shoved aside to make room for something," he said after a pause. Ben nodded and continued to move the chairs. It was as the small pile decreased that Ben noticed there was some sort of tarpaulin under it.

"Hey kid, look at this," Ben pointed to the black sheet. Johnny frowned and knelt down for a closer look. He lifted up a corner and took a peek at what was underneath. Ben watched in confusion as Johnny stared at whatever was underneath for a while, he had turned white as a sheet and was staring with a horrified look on his face.

"What?" Ben asked nervously. "What's under there?"

"A foot."

DENMORE STREET

Sue looked over her husband's shoulder as he flicked through one of Barbara's many photo albums. So far there had been no sign of SG.

"I don't think we're going to find anything," Sue said sadly.

"We will! Something here must give us a clue; we just need to look closely. Maybe just read between the lines." Reed's pep talk wasn't working, Sue sighed and pulled out her communicator. She pressed a button and the living room of the Baxter Building penthouse flashed on to the screen.

Sue was relieved to see that Johnny was lying on the couch; he was watching a film and laughing hysterically at everything that flashed on the screen. He had a bowl of popcorn and a litre bottle of Dr Pepper at his side. His sling hung loosely around his neck while his broken arm lay limply on the arm of the sofa. Sue sighed, pressed a button and put her communicator back in her pocket.

THE HOSPITAL

"Whaddya mean a foot?" Ben asked. Johnny hadn't taken his eyes off the black patent high-heeled shoe. Mainly because inside was a foot covered in glossy black tights.

"I mean a foot!" Johnny lifted up the tarpaulin so Ben could see. Ben inhaled sharply and swore under his breath. He looked at Johnny and Johnny looked at him.

"C'mon, lets see who it is," Ben said grudgingly. He didn't really want to look at a dead body, it only made him think of what might have happened to Alicia.

"Alicia doesn't wear heels does she?" Johnny asked nervously. Ben shook his head. "She prefers flat shoes," he mumbled. Ben tossed the other chairs aside while Johnny watched worriedly, mumbling to himself. Ben pulled off the tarpaulin. A hushed silence fell over the two and Ben stood back so he was level with Johnny.

The body was of a woman; she must have been in her forties and was wearing a black skirt with a matching suit jacket. Underneath the jacket was a grubby white shirt. The woman's face was frozen in shock and she stared blankly at the ceiling, curly auburn hair framed her round face.

Johnny's hand reached into his pocket and he pulled out his communicator, without thinking he pressed the third button and watched as his sister's face flashed up on the screen. It was only when her eyes narrowed and she frowned that he realised what he had just done.

"Shit," he mumbled.

"Excuse me?" Sue asked.

"Nothing," Johnny mumbled. Sue squinted and looked closely at the walls she could see behind Johnny.

"Where are you?" she asked.

"Uh…dark alley…I, uh…we're out of Ben and Jerry's so I'm just going to get some more," Johnny tried to sound confident and truthful but from the look on his sister's face he could tell it wasn't working.

"You're buying ice cream in a dark alley?" Sue asked sceptically.

"I'm just taking a few shortcuts, I don't wanna have to put up with any screaming fans," Johnny lied.

"Right," Sue said slowly, she was definitely not sure whether she believed Johnny but she decided to leave.

"Uh…so? Choc chip cookie dough?" Johnny asked, slightly relieved. Had he really convinced his sister he was in an alleyway?

"Gimmie that," Ben grumbled and he took the communicator out of Johnny's hand. "He's with me," Ben added.

"I know. Just make sure nothing happens," Sue instructed. Johnny snatched his communicator away from Ben.

"You knew?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yes, Robo-Johnny wasn't wearing a cast. Listen Johnny, when I say don't leave the building I mean it! Anything could happen to you."

"Yeah well it's not like our enemies know I'm powerless," Johnny said defensively.

"Are you sure? News travels fast."

"Yeah well if I hadn't come along then we wouldn't have found this," Johnny said childishly and he turned the communicator around and thrust it into the dead woman's face.

DENMORE STREET

Sue gasped and dropped the communicator. Reed looked up from the photo album at the sound of the communicator hitting the carpet with a small thud.

"Sue? What's wrong?" he asked. Sue pointed shakily to her communicator. Reed picked it up and managed to catch a glimpse of the body before Johnny swivelled the communicator round to face him.

"See that? I found that," he said proudly. "Reed?" he added when he realised he wasn't talking to his sister.

"Where are you Johnny?" Reed asked.

"Hospital, Reed where's Sue?" Johnny asked; he was genuinely concerned. Reed didn't wait for Johnny to finish the sentence; he hung up and put an arm around his wife's shoulder.

"Did you see?" she asked. Reed nodded.

"Come on, we should probably tell the police."


	28. Beginning of the end

**Disclaimer: SG, Sofia, Barbara and all the random people that pop up in this chapter are MINE! Everything else belongs to Marvel…and fox.**

**Author's note: Well thank you very much for all your reviews. I would ramble but once again I am on a very tight schedule. Enjoy!**

The police were quick to change location. At the mention of the word body, 80 per cent of the officers jumped into cars and vans and sped off towards the small hospital. Within minutes the derelict building had been roped off and was flooded with people.

Johnny and Ben watched as Sue and Reed climbed out the back of a police car. Johnny was about to crack a joke but decided against it when he saw his sister's face. She was glaring at him but it was as if she wanted to cry on his shoulder at the same time.

"What happened?" Reed asked. There was no 'hi, how are you?' it was just straight down to business.

"We found a body," Johnny said nonchalantly.

"Care to expand on that description?"

"Not really. We don't even know who she was," Johnny responded.

"Barbara Lawson," Sue said quietly.

"Who?" Johnny asked.

"Barbara Lawson, Franklin's kidnapper," Sue said. She sounded distant and was staring at the wall behind Ben and Johnny.

"Is this a problem?" Johnny asked; he was very surprised by his sister's sad tone. Ben tutted.

"What do you think?" Ben asked. Johnny shrugged.

"Why do you think I'm asking?" Johnny asked innocently.

"Okay kid. Think. If Barbara has Franklin and then dies, what happens to Franklin?" Ben asked patronisingly. Johnny glared at Ben's tone before it dawned on him that there was a much bigger problem.

"Oh," he said quietly. "Well I'm sure he's safe. We know SG stole your baby, maybe he gave Franklin to Barbara and decided he couldn't trust her and took him back," Johnny suggested.

"That's what I said," Reed murmured thoughtfully.

"Really? I just made that up," Johnny said happily, obviously very pleased with himself.

"But why would he kill her? Was she gonna talk?" Ben asked.

"Maybe. He knew everyone was on the lookout for her… he obviously couldn't risk having information being held by someone who was being searched for concerning that particular matter. He was obviously certain we would never find the body-" Reed was interrupted by Ben.

"He thought we would just keep on searching," Ben finished.

"So what now?" Johnny asked.

"Take Sue home," Reed said to Johnny. "We'll stay here and find out what happened to Ms Lawson."

"Home?" Sue asked, she glared at her husband. "I'm not going anywhere, there's too much to be done."

"Sue please, you need to rest," Reed said compellingly, he put his hand on her arm.

"I'll rest when I find my baby," Sue said forcefully and jerked away from her husband. Ben, Reed and Johnny watched as she stormed off.

Sue stood quietly among the mass of officers. She watched as they draped a blanket over Barbara's body and carried her away. She felt a hand on her shoulder, she didn't need to turn around to know it was her brother.

"Reed's only trying to help," Johnny said quietly.

"I know. But me being at home won't get us anywhere," Sue replied. The siblings stood in silence and watched people rush around them.

"Who gave you the flowers? Johnny asked. Sue knew he was talking about the sunflowers that had been delivered to her earlier that day.

"SG…he told me everything was going to be fine. He said I had nothing to worry about."

"Sounds like you believed him." Sue was slightly alarmed by her brother's statement. Mainly because she knew he was telling the truth. Over the weeks she had found herself suddenly trusting SG, she had no idea why or whether she should but she did.

"I get it," Johnny said nonchalantly. "You keep thinking he hasn't got anything to do with this because he loves you. And no matter how twisted a person can be, if they love someone they'd never hurt them."

Sue frowned and looked at her brother, he was looking down her with a very serious and sympathetic look on his face.

"Did you just come up with that?" she asked. Suddenly all traces of serious Johnny was gone and he grinned.

"Was on TV," he admitted.

"Is someone watching Opera? Ricki Lake? Montel-"

"No!" Johnny said quickly. "I was watching that TV show, you know the one where that guy has to solve all those murder mysteries. Anyway, he was trying to talk to the wife of the suspect and that was what he said to get her to talk."

"Sure," Sue said wryly. For a moment she forgot all about SG, Barbara, Franklin and everything else. She laughed out loud at her brother's desperation. Several people shot her disapproving looks and she quickly shut up.

JUST OUTSIDE THE HOSPITAL

_She hates me. She doesn't say it but I know how she feels. She can't stand me anymore. At first she was afraid, now she detests me. The only problem is she hates me for something I didn't do…so maybe I did kidnap her child but I was under strict orders and I have cared for him as if he were my own. What I didn't do is kill Barbara and I know for a fact that her thinking I am a murderer is the icing on the cake. _

_I would love to tell her it wasn't me. It was Victor of course; he was furious with Barbara for getting caught and electrocuted her on the spot. When they discover that Barbara's insides have all been fried they'll quickly discover the true culprit…but until then it looks like I'm the guilty party. _

_I must admit I am very surprised about these circumstances. I always thought Reed Richards was one of the most intelligent people on earth. He is renowned for believing and sometimes proving the impossible. A man who thinks outside the box should always consider all the possibilities. For some reason he cannot think of any possibility but me. Was he not talking with Ben about the possibility of Victor coming back a few days ago? Mr Fantastic is not as fantastic as people think. _

VON DOOM TOWERS

Victor, Leonard and Sofia all sat patiently around the long table. Victor was sitting in his throne while Leonard and Sofia sat opposite each other, half way down the table. Leonard cleared his throat. Sofia sighed and looked at her nails. Victor didn't move or make a sound; he kept his eyes focused on the double doors leading to his office. They were all waiting for SG.

"Maybe we should start without him," Sofia suggested. Victor shook his head.

"We could brief him afterwards," Leonard said hopefully. Victor shook his head again. Leonard and Sofia exchanged looks and looked down at the files in front of them.

The door slowly opened and all eyes turned towards it. Disappointment rippled through the group as a henchman stuck his head round the door.

"Mr Chambers is still outside sir," he stuttered.

"I know," Victor said coldly and glared at the henchman. The man quickly disappeared and closed the door behind him. The door slammed shut, the sound echoed through the silent room.

It was at least ten minutes before the door opened again. SG shuffled into the room and sat down at a chair opposite Victor, he didn't say anything and didn't look at anyone.

"You're late," Victor said after a few seconds.

"It happens," SG muttered.

"I'm aware of that, usually such things are accompanied with an explanation," Victor said coldly.

"I was at the hospital," SG said to his feet.

"Did I give you permission to leave?" Victor asked.

"This isn't a prison," SG retorted.

"Shall we get started," Sofia said. SG was digging himself a deeper hole and she wasn't about to let that happen.

Victor sat up straighter and smirked at his accomplices. He said loudly and clearly, "In 24 hours, we begin."

**Author's note: Ha ha, now I'm excited. When Victor says begin he doesn't mean the plan. Don't worry, these past 27 chapters haven't just been me going with the flow. When I say begin I mean the beginning of my grand finale! Review!**


	29. Tricked?

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Fantastic Four etc.**

**Author's note: Sorry for the long wait but schoolwork is driving me nuts. I'm halfway through ½ term and I'm afraid this is the best I could come up with. Thanks for reviews and enjoy.**

The sun shone brightly on the Baxter Building, giving it an angelic glow that made it stand out from the other grey skyscrapers that conquered Manhattan. A small pocket of calm seemed to surround the Baxter Building; for some it was refreshing, for others it was slightly disturbing. Since the Fantastic Four had been formed there was never a quiet moment, if they weren't fighting super-villains they were fighting each other. It was something that had become quite normal and for those who had witnessed such events before, it was obvious it was just the calm before the storm.

The penthouse was quiet; Reed and Sue had spent the morning looking for Franklin while Ben and Johnny had looked for Alicia and the mysterious ambulance crew. Their searches had been unsuccessful and they had all agreed to meet back at their home and rest before continuing the search again.

Ben was sitting in his armchair snoring heavily. Johnny was sprawled out across the sofa, flicking through television channels aimlessly as Reed and Sue were cuddled up on the other sofa watching Johnny.

"Stop flicking," Sue scolded.

"Make me," Johnny retorted lazily. Sue's eyes narrowed and she pulled the remote out of Johnny's hand with a force field.

"Okay, point taken," Johnny grumbled and Sue gave him back the remote. Johnny was about to change the channel when Reed stopped him.

"Wait!" he shouted and snatched the remote from Johnny.

"You know you could just ask," Johnny pointed out but Reed ignored him. His attention was fixed on the television. Sue and Johnny looked at each other and then looked at the television and listened to the television reporter.

"_Activity has been spotted in Von Doom Towers. The building has been deserted since the Fantastic Four killed Victor Von Doom. People have been seen entering and leaving the building at all hours, most of the time dressed for a day at the office. It has been confirmed by Phillip Cecil, the current owner of the building, that the activity is unauthorised. Gina Ryan was there earlier talk-"_

Reed turned off the television and stood up.

"Come on," he said determinedly.

"Where're you going?" Sue asked, standing up next to him.

"To Doom." Johnny sat up in interest and Ben conveniently woke up. Sue stared at her husband in disbelief.

"What do you mean 'to Doom'? Are you crazy?" Sue asked. Reed didn't answer.

"Does this mean we're fighting?" Johnny asked excitedly.

"No," Sue said forcefully. "Reed what are you talking about? What's wrong?"

"Now we know where Doom is, we need to stop him before things get too serious. He's probably planning something big and we need to nip his plan in the bud," Reed explained. Sue looked at Ben and Johnny, Ben looked confused and Johnny looked ecstatic.

"Sounds good to me. Let's go!" Johnny said excitedly.

"Whoa, you're not going anywhere," Sue said to her brother. Johnny's face fell.

"Suzie's right. It's too dangerous for ya kid. Ya ain't got no powers, ya can only use one arm…Doom'll eat ya alive," Ben said firmly. Johnny looked to Reed for support.

"They do have a point," Reed said reluctantly.

"B…b…but-"

"No buts!" Sue said firmly. "I don't want to see you get hurt," She added softly. Johnny looked from Ben, to Reed and to Sue with a look of disbelief on his face.

"Fine," he grumbled sulkily and stormed off to his room.

TWENTY MINUTES LATER - VON DOOM TOWERS

Anyone who had been watching the news earlier would think the reports were a lie. The building had lost it's sparkle, when Victor had been in charge it had a been very high-tech, luxurious and important. Now the dirty glass that covered the building blended in with the rest of the dull skyscrapers and the weather had started to carefully wear away the statue of Victor himself.

Ben let out a long, low whistle. "And I thought Yancy Street was bad," he said to Sue. Sue smiled weakly and looked at her husband. Reed stood in front of them staring stonily at Victor's statue. He stood, unmoving, for a minute before he started walking towards the doors.

"Let's go," Reed said over his shoulder and strode through the double doors. Sue and Ben quickly followed him. The two stopped short when they entered the lobby.

The inside of the building was a serious contrast to the outside; it was full of people! Men and Women were walking around dressed in suits as if it were an ordinary day at the office.

"How come we couldn't see these people from the outside?" Ben asked.

"One way glass I guess," Sue replied.

"They aren't real," Reed said calmly. "Come on."

Ben and Sue followed Reed to the lift; he pressed the call button and the doors smoothly slid open. He was about to take a step inside when a large hand pulled him back. Reed glared at Ben.

"What are you doing?" Reed asked angrily.

"Stopping ya from doing something stupid," Ben retorted. "Do ya really think ya can just waltz in here without any trouble? It's bad enough we just walked in here with our suits and everything. What are ya trying to pull stretch?"

"Is there any point sneaking in? It will end the same either way; I'm just trying to save us some trouble," Reed said, still glaring at Ben. Ben glared back. Reed's face suddenly softened and he ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry," he muttered. "It's just…this is a lot to deal with." Ben's glare faded and he grinned; the apology was enough for him.

"It's okay, just don't try and get us killed," he said light-heartedly and let go of Reed. He slapped him lightly on the back and exchanged looks with Sue.

"So what now?" Sue asked. "How exactly are we going to get to the top floor without being seen?"

"You," Reed said simply. Sue got the message instantly and quickly turned herself and her team-mates invisible.

"Stairs," Reed whispered loudly and the friends made their way to the stairwell.

BAXTER BUILDING

Johnny made sure his team had left the building before he stepped foot out of his room. He slipped from the living quarters into Reed's office and sat down at Reed's desk. He turned on the computer and waited patiently for it to load. A login box flashed up onto the screen and Johnny froze; he had forgotten that Reed had tightened up security. Passwords were changed every other day and Johnny had absolutely no idea what the new password was. He wasn't trusted with such information. _Think Johnny think! What kind of science thing would Reed have a password. _ Johnny looked around the room, his eyes rested on a thick book on Reed's desk. _Advanced molecular theory…would his password be molecules? No. Reed would have something way more complicated than that…wouldn't he? _A grin appeared on Johnny's face as a new idea formed in his head. _Unless Reed is using the whole reverse psychology thing…maybe his password is really simple cos people would assume he has a really long word for a password. _

Johnny started to type in random words; he tried various things from physics to Franklin. He slumped back in the chair, already exhausted from all the thinking he had done. He stared at the ceiling, _what would he choose? What is a simple password? Your name? _Johnny sat up and looked at the keyboard, would Reed have his name as a password? _It's worth a shot. _Johnny typed in 'reed' and hit the enter key. He grinned again as the login box disappeared and the computer said, in a monotone voice: 'welcome Dr Richards. You have seven unread emails.'

Johnny was tempted to check Reed's emails but decided against it and went straight to what he was looking for.

"Von Doom Towers," he muttered to himself over and over again until he found a certain folder. Johnny clicked on it and then double clicked on a folder labelled 'map', His smile broadened as a 3D diagram of Von Doom Towers flashed up on the screen. _Now, how can I get in unseen? _

VON DOOM TOWERS

Sue reached the top of the stairs first, she watched as the grey outlines of her husband and friend hurried towards her; of course she could see anything that was invisible. When Ben and Reed reached the top she made the three of them reappear.

'What now? Ben asked, slightly breathless. Reed held up a finger, warning them to be quiet. Ben and Sue strained their ears to hear what Reed could hear but they were unsuccessful. They both looked at Reed, waiting for the signal that they could talk again.

They were both so absorbed in trying to hear any noise that they failed to notice two men sneaking up behind them until it was too late.


	30. Betrayal

**Disclaimer: I don't own the fantastic four, blah blah blah**

**Author's note: Thanks for reviews. smiles smugly I updated!!! And in a week, schoolwork is lowering slightly but not as much as I'd like it too! This story is getting easy to write now and I think that you will all be very pleased with my quick (kinda quick I guess) updates. But don't be surprised if I suddenly stop again because I've found a new passion and movie to write about…High School Musical. I fell in love with Corbin Bleu and daydreaming and watching the film is taking up a lot of my time. Anyway, enjoy!**

Sue slowly opened her eyes; it took a moment for her to process the events before and realise she was lying in her bed. She sat up sharply was suddenly overwhelmed with dizziness, she put her hand to her head and lay on her back. It was then that she noticed she wasn't at home. Sue sat up again, ignoring her light-headedness and looked around. She was in a bedroom that was very different to the one she shared with Reed. Everything was red. The walls were a deep, maroon. The thick, soft carpet was burgundy and all the furniture seemed to be made of mahogany and any fabric was some sort of red. Light streamed into the dark room through a large window; from it Sue could just see the Baxter Building. _Where the hell am I?_

As Sue surveyed the room she noticed a white envelope propped up on an alarm clock on the bedside table. Her name was written neatly on the front and Sue's blood ran cold. She knew where she was now. In a way it almost surprised her, _who knew SG had a thing for the colour red? I wonder why?_ She quickly shook the idea that it possibly signified blood. She picked up the envelope and tore it open.

_Dear Susan,_

_Welcome to my humble abode, I hope you like the décor, I only got round to do some redecorating yesterday. Before it was rather… tasteless. Anyway, on too more important things, I'm sorry I could not be here to greet you but I had a previous engagement that I just couldn't get out of. Victor just wouldn't take no for an answer. I will join you shortly. In the meantime I think you shall find something that will keep you occupied for a while at the end of the bed…_

Sue stopped reading and crawled to the edge of the bed, suddenly scared of what she might find she turned invisible and slowly poked her head over the edge. Her eyes widened and a smile grew on her face, she reappeared and reached into the cot at the end of the bed.

"Franklin," she breathed softly and picked him up carefully. She held him close to her for a few minutes and before she knew it was crying. "You're safe," she announced, almost to reassure herself that he was really in her arms. Franklin stared at her from the red blankets that covered him; he yawned sleepily and grabbed hold of Sue's finger as she stroked his face.

It was another few minutes before she came to her senses and put Franklin down. She got off the bed and walked around to the other side of the cot, she disappeared and picked up Franklin before turning him and his blankets invisible too. She quickly walked to the door in the corner and slowly opened it, she was surprised that instead of taking her to the rest of the apartment it went straight to a glass bridge. At the opposite end of the bridge were huge double doors. She looked through the glass to try and figure out where she was and frowned. A large, black statue was in front of the building. _Von Doom Towers, of course. _She hurried over the bridge linking the buildings together and slowly pushed the double doors open, she slid through and closed them quietly. She was right outside Victor's office. The receptionist sitting at the desk in front of the office stared, startled, at the double doors.

"Hello?" she called. "Is anybody there?" Sue held her breath and stood still as a statue, how was she going to get rid of this woman? Sue glanced around the room for anything that would be of use when she suddenly remembered that there was a statue outside. Victor never failed to mention that the statue was practically priceless every time he walked past it with someone. She smirked slightly and edged towards the corridor so she could see the statue. She paused and suddenly felt guilty, it was a beautiful statue and she knew Victor loved it. _Oh well_. She picked the statue up with a force field and then threw it down. It shattered loudly.

The receptionist, who was still recovering from what she believed was ghostly experience, swore and leapt out of her chair. She sprinted around the corner and to the statue. The doors to Victor's office flew open and a young woman marched out, she followed the receptionist and Sue took the opportunity to sneak a peek into the office.

She only got a glimpse but it was enough to confirm her fears. Victor, looking normal, was seated in his 'throne'. Opposite him was Ben who had been tied to a chair with some sort of metal. A man in a wheelchair sat beside him. Standing next to Victor was Leonard who was smiling smugly. The biggest shock was the people sitting either side of the table. One of them she had never met but she instantly recognised him from Johnny's picture. _SG_. Her gaze flickered to the other person and she frowned. It was Reed. He was sitting calmly and chattering to Victor, he was smiling and laughing. The door slammed shut in her face and confusion flooded her.

_It can't be…but he…no…Reed is working with Victor. _


	31. Johnny's plan

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Fantastic Four and if I'm honest I don't really care anymore…if there is anything/one I want to own then it is Corbin Bleu…mmm**

**Author's note: Thank you very much for reviews, they make me feel happy! It is very nice to visit Fanfiction on your birthday and see that people well and truly love you. I would have updated quicker but I was busy playing with my NEW iPod Video. Ha ha, no one is probably very jealous but my friends are and that is all that matters. Anyway, I apologise with the shortness of the chapter, I'm trying to get this story over and done with and it is taking AGES!!! There is still quite a bit to come but I reckon I can get it in at least four or five chapters.**

Sue stood staring at the door, different emotions swarmed her and she slowly reappeared. _Why would he do this? Why would he betray us to Victor of all people? What went wrong? Where did it all go wrong?_ Questions darted around her head, Sue put a hand to her forehead to try and process what she had just seen.

"Well check the cameras and see what happened," A female voice snapped Sue out of her reverie and she quickly turned herself and Franklin invisible. The young woman who had been in Victor's office marched into the room, straight past Sue and into Victor's office. Once she was gone Sue turned and ran back across the bridge. She didn't stop until she was in the bedroom again and Franklin was safely in his cot.

Sue sat down on the bed and stared forlornly at the carpet. For some reason the bedroom felt unusually safe; it was like a calm little bubble. Sue lay down on the bed, as she did another card caught her eye. She sat up and picked it up. Sue ripped the envelope open and read the single sentence on the card: _Naughty Naughty. That was very expensive._

IN THE LOBBY OF VON DOOM TOWERS

"Listen toots, I'm tellin' ya I was given orders to make sure this package went straight to Mr Doom."

"It's Von Doom actually. And I'm telling you that Mr Von Doom never said he was to have packages sent straight to him."

Johnny groaned in frustration. Had he known that sneaking into Victor's office dressed as a deliveryman would give him so much grief, he would have chosen something else. Johnny glared at the receptionist from underneath the shade of his baseball cap and self-consciously touched his new false beard to make sure it hadn't fallen off. The receptionist glared back at him.

"I'll be happy to take the package and make sure no one else touches it," the receptionist said through gritted teeth.

"And I'll be happy to take the package to him," Johnny retorted, his new Brooklyn accent was beginning to fade. People were beginning to stare; Johnny wondered if he should just leave and come back an hour later dressed as something different.

"Fine, have it your way. But don't try and blame it on me when ya lose ya job," Johnny said reluctantly. He turned around and was about to walk away when a familiar voice made him stop.

"It's okay Lil, I'll go with him. Make sure he doesn't try anything." Johnny wasn't sure whether he was pleased or annoyed to hear a familiar voice. On the plus side, he could now get to Victor's office. On the down side he was about to be reunited with a significant ex-girlfriend. _She did just save my ass, maybe she's not mad…or maybe she doesn't recognise me. _Feeling confident with the idea that his disguise was not as crap as he had first thought, Johnny pulled the hat low over his eyes and turned around.

"I don't mind," Johnny told the receptionist. She bit her lip and looked between Johnny and her friend.

"Okay," she said reluctantly and went back to her computer.

Johnny glanced nervously at his ex, Vanessa, and followed her to the elevator. Vanessa didn't even look at him until they were in the lift, the second the doors closed and sealed them off from the rest of the world she spun round to face him. Then she slapped him hard across the face, Johnny swore the sound seemed to echo through the lift.

"What was that for?" Johnny asked, feigning innocence.

"Don't play dumb with me," Vanessa hissed.

"What? I-" Johnny tried to protest but Vanessa cut him off.

"What the hell do you think you're going here? Do you know that all security has orders to shoot to kill if they see you?" Johnny stared at her.

"Shoot to kill?" he echoed in surprise. _Doesn't Victor wanna kill me himself or something? _"Well I came here to find my friends, maybe you didn't notice but they're being held captive here," Johnny added.

"And once again the great Human Torch is wrong," Vanessa said mockingly. "Huh?" Now Johnny was genuinely confused.

"I was in the office earlier and your leader was gloating about defeating the Fantastic Four with Victor. Your rock friend was unconscious and your sister was nowhere to be seen," Vanessa explained.

"You're kidding right," Johnny said hopefully. The look in Johnny's eyes suddenly reminded Vanessa of a lost puppy and she had the sudden urge to give him a hug, she resisted the urge and looked at the floor.

"I'm sorry. I'm sure Mr Fantastic has some sort of plan, maybe The Thing was sleeping and your sister was invisible." Johnny looked confused for a second.

"Were you joking or not?" he asked. Vanessa rolled her eyes.

At that moment the lift doors open to reveal a long corridor. Johnny followed Vanessa out the lift and towards the T-junction that beckoned them.

"So what are you gonna do now?" Vanessa asked. Johnny shrugged.

"I never really thought about what I was gonna do once I actually got here," he confessed.

"Fabulous," Vanessa announced sarcastically. "And before you even think about asking me, I'm not gonna help you."

"I wasn't gonna ask you anyway," Johnny said defensively.

"So then why are you looking at me like that?" she asked.

"Like what?" Johnny asked innocently.

"With that…hopeful look in your eyes," Vanessa said in distaste.

"What hopeful look?" Johnny asked, he took a step towards her and quickly closed the gap between them. A wave of emotion swept over Vanessa knowing that Johnny was standing so close to her.

"T-that one," she stammered. Vanessa mentally slapped herself, she knew exactly what Johnny was doing and once again she was finding it hard to resist him. Johnny suddenly noticed a small scar on Vanessa's cheek. Concern flashed in his eyes and he automatically reached out to touch the scar, and in doing so stroked her cheek.

"What happened?" Johnny asked quietly.

"Nothing," she murmured. Johnny traced the faint outline of the scar with his finger, sending shivers down Vanessa's spine.

"Doesn't look like nothing to me," he whispered. Vanessa was spellbound, his voice sounded so genuine and his bright-blue, hypnotic eyes were flooded with worry. Before she knew it Johnny was kissing her. The kiss felt so good she completely forgot where she was, what she should be doing and that she really hated the man she was with.

Two men appeared at the end of the corridor and began to approach the couple. They nudged each other and made suggestive comments as they passed but Vanessa and Johnny ignored them. The two men entered the lift. The second the doors closed Johnny pulled away from Vanessa.

"Thanks babe," he said nonchalantly. Vanessa stared at him, confused, for a few seconds until it finally dawned on her. He had done it again. Johnny had somehow managed to manipulate her into helping again; he had used her. She automatically slapped him across the face; Johnny didn't seem that surprised.

"Hey, I didn't do anything. You coulda handed me in at anytime," Johnny pointed out.

"And I still can," Vanessa said through gritted teeth and pulled a small gun out of the holster on her waist. Johnny briefly contemplated why he hadn't noticed the gun before as Vanessa aimed at his head. He absent-mindedly put his hands up and backed against the wall.

"Uh…you wanna put that down 'Ness?" Johnny asked nervously.

"Don't call me that," Vanessa hissed. In a split second she aimed at his shoulder and shot.

Johnny winced and hissed in pain. He glanced down at his wounded shoulder and suddenly noticed there was a miniature dart poking out. He frowned and pulled it out.

"Tranquiliser," Vanessa said at his confused look.

"Bitch," Johnny managed to say before he slumped down into a heap.

**A/N: Don't get the ending? Neither do I…that was a joke btw. But according to certain people it is waaaay too confusing. So, Johnny basically heard these men coming down the hall and kissed Vanessa to hide his face. **


	32. SG meets Sue

**Disclaimer: You know I only own SG…he has a name!!! Go me!!!**

**Author's note: Ah, yes I'm aware it's been a while since I last updated but I've been busy with coursework and music and all that jazz. I watched the teaser for FF2 yesterday though and it motivated me to get off my arse and write. I know this is short but it's a sort of…filler…with…um…important(ish) stuff. **

_I have to do something_. That was obvious, Sue knew she couldn't just sit here and wait for something to happen. Reed was gone, she had lost him to the Dark side and now it seemed like she was the only able member of the Fantastic Four left. Ben was probably still unconscious and Johnny was powerless with only the use of one arm; it was all up to her. The only problem was she had no idea what to do, she hated to admit it but she couldn't do this by herself. She at least needed Ben to help her with the physical stuff. They weren't called the Fantastic Four for nothing.

The sound of someone turning the door handle broke Sue from her thoughts. She was completely invisible by the time the door was open and someone had entered the room. Sue stared at the newcomer; it was SG. He was exactly like Johnny's drawing and description; Johnny had just forgotten to mention how…young he looked. He was shorter than her; he had floppy brown hair that seemed to hang over his brown eyes. He was dressed up in a black tuxedo and had a bouquet of sunflowers in his hand.

"Susan?" he called out. "Susan…are you there?" He was nervous, Sue could tell just by the sound of his voice. Sue didn't know what made her do it but she reappeared and said, "yeah. I'm here." SG looked nervous and relieved. He opened and closed his mouth to speak but the sound wouldn't come out. SG looked at the floor and scratched the back of his neck as he searched for something to say. He had had a whole speech planned out but it seemed to have flown out of his head. Embarrassed, SG thrust out his hand with the flowers and handed them to her. Sue smiled gratefully.

"I take it you're SG," she said quietly. Anger flashed in SG's eyes and he scowled.

"My name is Stephen," he said coldly. "Stephen Brown." Sue looked down at the floor, embarrassed; she had forgotten that her admirer didn't approve of his nickname.

"Oh…right." Sue put the flowers into a vase on a dressed on the opposite side of the room. "Um…nice place," she said in an effort to make conversation. Stephen's anger vanished and he beamed.

"Thanks, I was hoping you'd like it. It took me all day," he said proudly. "Victor said that once all this business is over we could have it."

"We?" Sue asked cautiously. Stephen's smile grew.

"Yeah! Me and you, just the two of us," he said dreamily.

"S-I mean Stephen, I can't-"

"Yes you can!" he protested. "It'll be great, you and me. We won't live here forever, don't worry. We can have a house somewhere in the suburbs and we'll be married and we'd have kids and-"

"Stephen!" Sue shouted. Stephen stopped talking and looked at Sue expectantly. She shook her head slowly, "that's not gonna happen," she explained soothingly. Stephen looked confused.

"Why not?" he asked.

"Well…I'm married. I'm married to a wonderful man and we have a son-" Stephen cut her off.

"Of course! How could I forget! Don't worry, I'm fine with the whole Franklin issue, he's a great kid. He can live with us, no problem. I don't even mind if Reed comes over for dinner every now and again or has Franklin for the weekend. After all, he is the boy's father." Sue stared at him in disbelief; her mind was reeling. Was he serious? Did he honestly believe that they could and would be together? _This must be a joke._

VICTOR'S OFFICE

"Johnny…Johnny!" Johnny awoke to the sound of Reed whispering urgently at him. Johnny slowly opened his eyes and wasn't surprised to find himself tied to a chair in Victor's office. The only people in the room were himself, Reed (who was also tied to a chair), an unconscious Ben and another man who Johnny hadn't met. The man was tied and gagged in a wheelchair; his eyes were fixed on Johnny. Johnny found the stranger's gaze unnerving.

"Who's that?" Johnny asked Reed.

"Phillip…Victor's son." Johnny did a double take.

"Son? But that guy's like….old…Victor must have been, like, twelve or something," Johnny pondered out loud. Reed glared at him before replying.

"Phillip is adopted," Reed said stiffly.

"Oh," Johnny said slowly. "Why would he adopt someone?" Johnny asked

"A heir or something? I don't know," Reed 's impatience was beginning to show in his voice.

"Heir to what?" Johnny asked curiously.

"His business."

"What business, didn't it all end when we kicked his ass?"

"No." Reed clenched his fists.

"Why?" Johnny asked innocently.

"I don't know!" Reed shouted. Johnny stared at him, stunned, for a few moments and blinked in surprise.

"Why?" He asked again. "Joke!" he added quickly as Reed sent him a death glare.

"Well now is not the time for jokes Johnny," Reed said calmly, all evidence of his outburst was gone.

"Yeah, whatever. Just hurry up and untie me," Johnny said dismissively.

"No," Reed said firmly. Confusion flashed on Johnny's face and he stared at Reed.

"What?...why not? Come on! Hurry up, we don't have much time," Johnny said urgently.

"No Johnny."

"But-" Reed cut Johnny off.

"Do you trust me Johnny?" Reed asked solemnly.

"With my life man," Johnny said sincerely.

"Well then," Reed said calmly.

"Yeah but-"

"Wait Johnny, I know what I'm doing…trust me." Johnny opened his mouth to speak but thought better of it. He closed his mouth and sat back in the chair.

"Alright man, you're the boss," he murmured.


	33. Loss

**Disclaimer: Don't own the Fantastic Four**

**Author's note: Thanks for all your reviews, they make me smile :-D**

**I would've updated sooner but I've had loads of coursework but now I have a homework free weekend and so I'm gonna try and work on this fic. Now this chapter is pretty random but I couldn't think of another way to go with it. Anyway, I have a feeling that some people might hate this chapter but I know you all love me really.**

Johnny was getting jittery. He glanced around the room again, not much had changed. Ben was still knocked out, the weirdo in the wheelchair was still staring at him and Reed was staring at the floor. _Screw waiting around, I gotta get outta here. _Johnny began to wriggle in his seat and try to pull his hands apart. Reed looked up from the floor and glanced at him disapprovingly.

"What?" Johnny asked innocently. Reed rolled his eyes and Johnny continued to try and break free. After half a minute he realised it was hopeless and he began to look around the room for something to him.

Johnny tried to turn around to look behind him but he was unsuccessful, he could only really see what was just behind Ben and Reed. It was as he was turning that something interesting caught his eye.

Reed's hands were tied together with rope.

Johnny stared at Reed, his confusion evident in his face.

"What's wrong?" Reed asked.

"Nothing," Johnny stammered. He turned to face the wheelchair weirdo and stared at the table, his thoughts rushing through his head. _Why is Reed tied up with just rope? Is Victor that stupid? Maybe Reed lost his powers or maybe he's just pretended the rope can hold him…but surely Victor knows what can and can't hold Reed. Why is Reed just sitting there? How long has he been sitting there, has he even tried to get free? All he needs to do is just make his hands thinner and the rope will slide right off…it must be magic rope. Reed did say Victor's mum was a witch or something like that…or was it Victor's dad? Maybe Reed doesn't know he's only tied up with rope…maybe he thinks he'll get electrocuted if he uses his power or something…should I tell him or does he already know?_

Johnny's thoughts were interrupted when he heard a loud groan to his left. His face lit up instantly and he turned to face his super-strong friend.

"Pebbles! Man, I thought you were like dead or something," Johnny said dramatically. Ben's eyes slowly fluttered open and he looked around, a confused look on his face.

"Wha…what's going on?" he asked groggily. He tried to move and then he noticed he had been clamped onto the chair he was in. Ben suddenly became a lot more alert. His eyes darted around the room, he took in the giant V on the wall and suddenly remembered everything that had happened.

"Doom," Ben spat.

"Yep and apparently the plan is to sit tight and wait for Reed to do something," Johnny said. Reed glared at Johnny.

"I know what I'm doing," Reed said stonily to Johnny. Ben frowned, obviously confused.

"Am I missing something here?" Ben asked.

"Nothing special," Johnny said dismissively. Ben suddenly noticed that Johnny was gesturing frantically with his eyes. Ben frowned and glanced in the direction Johnny was looking in, he couldn't see much. Only about half a metre from where the trio were sitting. Johnny slightly lifted up his hands as if to show something. Realisation swept over Ben as he saw what Johnny was getting at; he kept his face blank and turned away from Johnny.

Johnny didn't have time to voice his confusion over Ben's reaction as the huge double doors swung open. Victor strode in with Leonard and a girl on either side of him.

"Ah, Mr Storm, Mr Grimm. I was wondering when you two would wake up," Victor said warmly.

"I believe you know Leonard. This is Sofia Wallace," Victor said and gestured to the girl standing beside him. Sofia tried to ignore the fact that Johnny was obviously checking her out.

"Sup?" Johnny said casually. Ben didn't say anything; he just glared at Victor.

The doors opened again and a short man, followed by Sue entered the room. Johnny instantly recognised the man as SG. Sue glared at Johnny and Johnny winced as he remembered he was supposed to be at home instead of tied to a chair and for a split second he wished he had listened. _Don't be so stupid man you need to be here. We aren't called the Fantastic Four for nothing._ Victor, Leonard, Sue, Stephen and Sofia sat down at the table and the people sat in silence.

"So what now?" Johnny asked loudly. Everyone turned to look at him.

"Are you gonna try and kill us or something?" he asked bluntly. Victor let out a laugh; it was dripping with falseness.

"Ah, Jonathan. Always the joker," Victor said fondly. His tone scared Johnny slightly.

"No…I'm serious. How come I'm still alive?" Johnny asked and it was evident by the look on his face that he indeed was. Ben rolled his eyes.

"Well it all depends…what would you rather do?" Victor asked. Johnny looked confused and he looked to his team-mates for clarification but all of them were warily watching Victor.

"Well Johnny? Which would you rather be: dead or alive?" Victor asked; Johnny looked mildly confused.

"Well I must add Mr Storm, being alive comes with a price," Victor added.

"Lemme guess, he has to join you," Ben deadpanned. Victor glared at him and then grinned at Johnny.

"Well I think Ben pretty much covered it all," he said in his usual bright, false tone. "But before you make your mind up I want you to know that underneath your chair is a trapdoor which will drop you into a lava pit and without your powers, well, it might hurt." Johnny looked down at the ground around him and noticed that there was indeed a trapdoor below him. Johnny gulped and looked up at his sister. Sue was watching him intensely, willing him not to choose the selfish action. Johnny looked at Ben who was also watching him carefully, as was Reed.

"Can I think about this?" Johnny asked weakly.

"Time is running out," Victor said with a smug smile. You could tell he was enjoying the tension that had suddenly invaded the room. Johnny looked at his sister and he could tell she was praying he would say he would rather die than join Victor…but he had never really been one to follow her wishes.

"Alive," Johnny muttered. He looked down at his lap, afraid to see the disappointment in his sister's eyes.

"That's what I thought," Victor said smugly. Johnny kept his eyes away from anyone else's. _Well I didn't have much choice, _Johnny thought, trying to reassure himself. _It's not like they could save me from a friggin' lava pit…well maybe Sue would've sent a force field and backed me up - no! I would've ended up dead, end of story. Anyway, maybe I could do some sort of double crossing shit, it's not like Doom can control what I do now. _Johnny felt the ropes around his hands and feet loosen, he quickly realised that three henchmen had gathered around him and were untying him. Johnny allowed himself to look at his team-mates and he could see the disappointment in their eyes, but none of them looked surprised and for a second Johnny wished he had chosen the loyal option, just to prove them wrong.

Panic flooded Johnny as he suddenly felt arms clamp him back down to the chair. He looked around wildly at the henchmen and that was when he saw one of them had a needle. Johnny knew, that as a superhero, it sounded slightly stupid that the one thing in the world that scared him were injections. Johnny began to hyperventilate and struggle.

"What's going on?" he asked, fighting to keep his voice sounding cool.

"Just a few precautions," Victor said casually.

"Victor stop!" Sue protested. Seeing Sue's distress Stephen stepped in.

"Yeah Victor, we can trust him," Stephen said, watching Johnny with worry.

"Let go of me," Johnny couldn't hide the fear in his voice as the man with the syringe slowly approached him.

"Leave 'im alone," Ben growled at the henchman nearest him. The man recoiled but still continued to hold Johnny down.

"Get off!" Johnny shouted. The adrenaline pumping through his body gave him a sudden boost and he managed to throw one of the men off him. With his free hand he punched the other henchman a few times until he let go. Johnny jumped up and ran to the other end of the room, his back pressed against the glass window.

The room was quiet, the only sound was Johnny's shallow breathing. Victor stood up from his position in his throne and slowly walked around the table towards Johnny. He continued to walk until there was a gap of about two to three metres between them. Johnny could see his life flashing before his eyes as Victor stretched his fingers.

"I had high hopes for you," Victor said sadly. Johnny was too scared to make some sort of smartass comment.

And then it happened. It was just a small bolt of electricity, not enough to really hurt Johnny. But it was all that was needed for Johnny to go flying through the window and plunge to the busy streets below.

**A/N: Hate me yet? Well review anyway, you know you want to...**


	34. Booby traps

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Fantastic four or Victor Von Doom or Leonard or anyone who has appeared in the film or comics.**

**Author's note: Well, um…sorry about the delay but I've been bombarded with coursework. I did get a day off but I was too busy playing in the snow :D I promise to update soon, it's half term and i can only do so much socialising and visiting museums and the like with my family.**

A smile tugged at the corners of Victor's mouth as he felt the familiar feeling of electricity rush through his fingers and shoot out towards the petrified young man before him.

Victor didn't seem surprised when his shot suddenly did a 180-degree turn and skimmed his hand. He didn't need to turn around to know that it had miraculously burnt through the ropes holding his arch nemesis to a chair. Johnny's relieved reaction was enough to confirm his suspicions.

"Thank you Susan," Victor said dryly.

"Your welcome," Sue replied in the same tone. Victor turned around and watched as Reed, realising he was free, slowly got out of his chair.

Johnny was the only person to witness what happened next, he frowned as Reed gave Victor a what-the-hell-do-I-do-now look. Victor gave a small shrug, one that would go unnoticed by one if they weren't watching him carefully. And seeing as all attention was on Reed, the small interaction went unseen.

The three henchmen who had approached Johnny previously had now gotten off the floor and were quickly advancing on him.

"If you co-operate Mr Storm I might not have to dispose of you," Victor said calmly.

"Might?" Johnny stuttered as the two henchmen grabbed his arms. Victor smirked at him in reply.

Johnny didn't bother to put up a fight when the two henchmen led him by the arms outside the room. He was well aware that the third had produced an AK from somewhere and was pressing in it into Johnny's back. The four men walked in silence down the long corridors, Johnny was growing bored.

"So where exactly are we going?" he asked casually. The henchmen looked at each other.

"I don't think we can tell you," one replied.

"Oh…okay," Johnny said brightly. The procession continued in silence for half a minute until Johnny spoke again.

"Are we nearly there?" he asked.

"No, we have to go down to the 18th floor," the one behind said.

"Frank! He's not supposed to know!" the second scolded. Frank rolled his eyes.

"My lips are sealed," Johnny said, turning around to wink at Frank.

"And so they should be," the second grumbled.

"Well so what if I knew? What's so special about the 18th floor?" Johnny asked.

"Nothing," the third man said quickly. "Right Trev," he added to the second henchman. 'Trev' or Trevor as his parents had named him glared at the third man.

"Way to be discreet," he grumbled.

"Sorry," the third man muttered. They continued to walk but this time Johnny felt the pressure on his back subside as the AK was swiftly pulled away from him. He briefly pondered why Frank had decided he didn't want to lodge a bullet in Johnny's spine. There was another brief silence.

"If we're supposed to be going down how come we haven't gone down any stairs yet?" Johnny pondered aloud.

"Who said we were going down any stairs?" Trevor asked.

"Um…didn't one of you just say we had to go _down _to the 18th floor?" Johnny asked.

"You see Frank? He's asking questions, I knew this would…" Trevor started, he trailed off when he looked over his shoulder to glare at Frank and found he wasn't there.

"Frank?" Trevor asked nervously, he let go of Johnny's arm and began to walk back the way they had come. "Frank!" he called again. The third henchman and Johnny exchanged confused and worried looks.

"Frank?" the third henchman shouted quietly. He glanced at Johnny worriedly, "stay here," he instructed and then ran off to follow Trevor.

Johnny stood stunned in the hallway, had his captors really just left him. _What if it's a trap…maybe this hall is rigged with booby traps. I wonder if this is the '18th floor'? Maybe if I just stay here and don't move I'll be safe…But what if stuff comes shooting out the walls, maybe I should just get down on the floor…man those guys are clever but I'm smarter. _Slowly and carefully Johnny got down on the floor, he lay on his back warily watching his surroundings, expecting something to fly over his head any minute. _I bet I look so stupid, but hey! I'm alive!_

Johnny lay there for half a minute before he heard footsteps approaching him; he glanced upwards and saw a pair of long legs in impractical high heels coming towards him. The woman walked straight up to him and looked down at him with a confused look on her face. Johnny couldn't help but grin when he noticed it was Vanessa. She cocked her head to one side questioningly.

"Why are you lying on the floor?" she asked.

"Avoiding booby traps," Johnny replied nonchalantly.

"Um…what booby traps?" Vanessa asked.

"Well we obviously can't see them, if we could they wouldn't be very good traps would they?" Johnny replied calmly. Vanessa rolled her eyes and tutted.

"Just get up," she commanded.

"But those guys just left me…why would they leave me to run away…I thought something bad was gonna happen to me," Johnny said worriedly.

"Who? Frank and co?" Johnny nodded and Vanessa smirked. "I got rid of them, now c'mon."

"Ow ow ow ow ow ow," Johnny said as she began to pull him up by his arm. "It's broken," Johnny added. Vanessa sighed and let go of his arm. Johnny winced as it felt back to the floor with a thud. Reluctantly he stood up and glared at Vanessa.

"What do you mean you got rid of them? Did you kill them?" Johnny asked in shock.

"No…they're just…taking a nap."

"So, why are you here? Trying to kill me again?" he asked.

"I wasn't trying to kill you," Vanessa replied in an exasperated tone. "I was just…pissed off."

"Oh I know that, I don't think I'll ever be able to forget your violent mood swings," Johnny said cheekily, earning him a slap from his ex.

"Shut up,' she said through gritted teeth. "Now c'mon, you can't stay here."

"Why not?" Johnny asked.

"Why do you think?"

"I'll be killed?"

"Exactly."

Vanessa grabbed Johnny's hand, much to his surprise and delight, and pulled him down the corridor.

"So I take it you're on the good side, right?" Johnny asked.

"Good side," Vanessa confirmed.

"And so the whole shooting me thing had nothing to do with Doom?"

"No…you were just being an arsehole and someone had to shut you up," Vanessa replied with the tiniest hint of a smile on her face.

The two stopped outside an unlabeled and unimportant door.

"We're hiding in a closet?" Johnny asked. Vanessa smirked at him, "it's not a closet."

Johnny's jaw dropped open as Vanessa pushed the door to reveal a large room with display monitors lining the walls. Chairs were placed at 'control stations'.

"Welcome to Von Doom's security centre," Vanessa said, pushing him inside. "We'll be safe here, there's no chance of being spotted by security-"

"Because we're security," Johnny finished. Vanessa closed the door.

"That's not really what I was going to say but I guess that works too."


	35. Some answers

**Disclaimer: I own…Vanessa, Phillip, Sofia, Stephen, the henchmen and…that's it. Wow, it feels good to own stuff.**

**Author's note: I said I'd update soon and I did…so what if two and a half pages took me an entire week to write, a week might I add in which I had absolutely nothing to do but write? So I had a few problems, sue me! But at least it wasn't like a month before I next updated anyway, thank you to all my wonderful reviewers, this chapter is for all of those who wondered what the hell was up with Reed and what ever happened to that Power Boost Johnny took…enjoy!**

Johnny sat back in the swivel chair and absent-mindedly started to swing from side to side. Vanessa was hunched over the main control panel pressing buttons.

"What'cha doing?" Johnny asked. Vanessa was amazed by his carefree tone.

"Trying to keep you alive," Vanessa retorted. Johnny rose one eyebrow at that.

"Right…but what does that have to do with security cameras and stuff?"

"Everything," Vanessa retorted. She looked up from the panel when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"What?" she asked Johnny suspiciously. Johnny suddenly looked embarrassed. He took his hand off his shoulder and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"Nothing," he mumbled. Vanessa's eyes narrowed suspiciously and she went back to the panel.

"Thanks," Johnny mumbled. Vanessa couldn't help but smile.

"No problem," she said turning around to face him.

"No, I mean it. I don't know what I would've done without you," Johnny said quietly, looking up from his shoes to her face. Vanessa and Johnny smiled at each other for a few seconds. Vanessa broke the contact and said, "Here, take a look at this."

Johnny's eyes widened, as nine of the monitors in a square suddenly became one and a picture of Victor's office flashed onto the screens. Johnny stood up in interest and walked over to where Vanessa was sitting. He watched as Frank, Trevor and Henchman no.3 dragged him out of the room.

"Hey, it's me!" Johnny said in amazement.

"No kidding Sherlock," Vanessa said dryly. Johnny ignored her and kept his eyes on the screen.

"Does this thing have sound?" Johnny asked. Vanessa hit a button and Victor's voice boomed from the speakers dotted around the room.

"_I can assure you Jonathan will be fine," Victor said to Ben and Sue. He took his seat back at his throne._

"_He better be," Stephen growled, Ben was taken back by his sudden protectiveness. Ben was sure that a week ago he had been keen to kill the powerless superhero. _

"_Oh he will and I think you'll find there will be a huge…improvement," Victor said smugly. _

"_Whaddya mean?" Ben asked._

"_You'll see," Victor said calmly. Ben could feel anger boiling up inside him, every time Victor opened his mouth he wanted to beat the crap out of him. Apparently Victor knew this, which was part of the reason why Ben was strapped to the chair in a very strong metal that he had probably never heard of. _

"_Give it up," Stephen said suddenly to Reed. Only Reed, Victor and Sofia didn't seem confused by his words. Reed looked startled at the sudden attention, Stephen glared at him._

"_Give what up?" Sue asked cautiously. Stephen didn't reply, instead he pulled a small remote control out of his pocket and pressed one of the many buttons. Everyone watched in interest as Reed's body began to distort, he groaned and dropped down to the floor, out of sight. Ben was the only one to witness his body shape and face change to become quite different. Reed groaned again and Sofia let out a worried cry. Sue's eyes narrowed as Sofia ran over to him and helped him up…only when Reed stood up he didn't really look like himself._

"_Reed?" Sue murmured. She turned to Stephen, "what did you do?" she asked. He didn't reply._

_Sofia pulled Reed into a chair, nothing but worry was written on her face._

"_Phillip…Phillip say something," she whispered to him. Phillip groaned and slowly his eyes fluttered open._

"_Sofia," he said groggily, sounding nothing like Reed. Sofia let out a sigh of relief and kissed him on the forehead. _

_Sue sat dumbstruck. She couldn't take her eyes off of Phillip and Sofia._

"_Where's Reed?" she demanded. Ben, who had been watching the couple turned to look at her and as he did so the wheelchair guy caught his eye._

"_Suzie," he muttered. Sue followed his line of sight and let out a cry. _

"_Reed!" She exclaimed. Sue got out of her seat and went over to the wheelchair, in it was Reed. He was tied and gagged to the chair. _

"_What did you do?" the question was directed at Stephen but Victor answered._

"_Isn't it obvious, Reed hasn't been who you thought he was all this time…I was surprised you didn't notice the change. **(A/N: When was the change I hear you cry…go back to chapter 13 and see if you can spot it…shouldn't be too hard.) **He really wasn't supposed to stay long, just trick you into losing your powers but I guess I underestimated you two, only one managed to fall for the trick…remember that power boost?" Victor continued, enjoying having an evil monologue. Sue and Ben looked at each other._

"_I knew he took it," Sue grumbled under her breath. _

"_Any other confessions?" Ben asked. _

"_What apart from kidnapping Franklin and your blind lady friend? I don't think so," Victor smirked at Ben's reaction to the mention of Alicia._

"_Where is she? What did you do to her? I swear if you've hurt her I'll-" Ben didn't get a chance to finish his threat as the floor beneath his chair slid away and Ben's chair went hurdling down to the floor below._

"_Ben!" Sue screamed, Reed groaned something along the same lines._

"_Don't worry, he's fine," Victor said nonchalantly. At that moment the door burst open and a henchman ran in, he took a moment to catch his breath._

"_He escaped," he said after a while. Victor's face fell._

"_What do you mean he escaped?" he asked quietly, a dangerous edge to his voice. _

"_The Torch…he tricked us…but he had help," the henchman added. Victor looked at Sue to see her reaction but she was just as confused. Victor turned to Phillip and Sofia._

"_Find them…now!" _

Johnny and Vanessa exchanged worried looks.

"They won't find us here…will they?" he asked.

"Um… They have to search a whole building maybe they'll go check out the cameras to see where to start," Vanessa's voice grew smaller as she spoke.

"Well that's cool, there's no security camera here," Johnny said reassuringly. Vanessa gave him a withered look and Johnny finally got it. At that moment the door handle turned.

"I locked the door," Vanessa murmured, she stood up and grabbed hold of Johnny. Johnny protectively stood in front of her as the person began to hammer on the door. The banging got louder, Johnny felt Vanessa cling tighter to him. He wanted to offer her words of reassurance but he could only find one word to say as the door splintered open.

"Shit."


	36. Reunited

**Disclaimer: Don't own the FF or Dr. Doom**

**Author's note: Thanks for all the reviews I got, they made me feel motivated to write…but then I had homework to do amongst other things. My weekends just don't seem to be free like they used to, which I suppose is a good thing but I apologise for my growing social life and increasing coursework load. This chapter is actually kinda short, like all my chapters but hey, at least I updated…right?**

The door flew open and Phillip strutted into the room, Sofia at his side. The couple looked surprised yet pleased to see Johnny with Vanessa clutching on to him.

"Well well, what have we here? Looks like we've already done our job…and in less than a minute," Phillip said, a smirk on his face.

"Yeah well, I like to keep things simple," Johnny said automatically. Phillip let out a laugh.

"Good, then you wouldn't mind coming with me," Phillip turned around beckoned some people to enter the room.

"I didn't mean it was that simple," Johnny retorted. Vanessa grip on him tightened and she shot him a disapproving look.

"Don't make him angry," she hissed in his ear.

"I think I know what I'm doing," he whispered back. Phillip stepped aside from the door and henchmen streamed into the room. Johnny's eyes steadily grew wider as they kept on coming, there had to be at least thirty men cramped into the room by the time they had all entered.

"Still know what you're doing?" Vanessa whispered. Johnny didn't answer. Phillip nodded and two of the henchmen stepped forward, the both of them holding large guns. Vanessa's grip on Johnny tightened.

"Still sure it's not that simple?" Phillip asked smugly.

"It's only getting harder," Johnny replied, a sure smirk on his face. Phillip nodded and the henchmen took aim.

"Last chance," Phillip offered. Johnny didn't reply. Phillip nodded and the henchmen pulled the triggers.

Johnny winced as he felt something hit his stomach. Slowly he looked down. He groaned as he realised it was a tranquiliser.

"How many fucking times," he grumbled before he passed out.

A FEW MINUTES EARLIER - BEN

Ben didn't even blink when the chair he was sitting in slammed down into the floor below. He had had a feeling Doom would do something like that. He always did. The trapdoor that had betrayed him slid shut with a loud clang, a eerie silence followed. The metal restraints on the chair slid away and Ben stretched his suddenly aching limbs.

The room was like something out of the hose makeover programmes Sue insisted on watching during important baseball matches. If it were a makeover programme Ben had a feeling the room would be described as light and airy. All the furniture was either made of pine or white cloth. In the centre of the room, not too far from Ben's chair, was a king sized, futuristic looking bed. A few small statues littered the room. Ben approached one of them. He let out a small and very unmanly gasp as he realised the statue was of him. _What the-? _His thoughts were interrupted when a small voice said, "Ben?" The voice was barely a whisper but Ben heard it anyway. He spun around.

"Alicia?" he asked softly. He couldn't help but smile as he saw his girlfriend in the corner, a smile also on her face. Ben closed the large gap between them with three big steps.

"Alicia," Ben said again as he carefully lifted her out of the chair and pulled her into a warm hug. Alicia clung to him like a limpet.

"Did they hurt you?" Ben asked. Alicia shook her head.

"They just tried to get me to answer questions…questions about you," Alicia mumbled. Ben frowned, he briefly considered probing Alicia for the questions but decided against it.

"I was so scared," she whispered.

"I know babe, I know. But I'm here now," Ben whispered soothingly. They stood hugging for a while, just enjoying being with each other again.

"C'mon, lets get you outta here," Ben said quietly. The couple let go of each other and Alicia latched onto his arm. Ben looked around the room, a confused look on his face.

"Um…Alicia?" he said, the confusion evident in his voice.

"Yes?" She replied.

"Where's the door?"

WITH REED AND SUE

Victor smirked and bit back a laugh at Ben's words. He turned away from the monitor and looked at the others reactions. Reed and Sue looked stunned and confused. Stephen's expression was unreadable and Leonard shared Victor's smirk.

"Genius," Leonard announced. It was a wonder he didn't stand up and start clapping.

"Amateur," Stephen said loudly. Everyone turned to look at Stephen. If looks could kill Stephen knew Victor would have slaughtered him by now. He glanced at Sue and saw she had an odd look on her face. Was it…was it a sense of pride? Encouraged by Sue's opinion Stephen continued.

"Saw that coming a mile away…anyone can take out the door," he said in a monotone voice. "And anyway, Ben will just break down the walls," he added with a smirk on his face. Leonard's smile faded, it was something he had never thought of, Victor however kept his cool.

"Oh I know that," he said dismissively. "This is where my secret weapon steps in." Victor pressed a button on his chair.

"Watch and learn Stephen," Leonard added. Everyone rolled their eyes at his unnecessary comment.

Sue watched in horror on the monitor as Ben and Alicia began to have coughing fits, she grasped onto Reed's hand. He pulled her arm discreetly.

"Ben'll be fine…his body can handle anything," Reed whispered. Sue nodded, _but it's not him I'm worried about_.

WITH BEN

"Alicia!" Ben shouted through his coughing. "Alicia can you hear me?" Ben groaned in frustration when she didn't answer. He couldn't see anything and the only sound was the slow hiss of gas as more of it poured into the room. He pulled her close to him and began to make his way towards one of the walls. Praying it lead to a corridor and not another trap Ben repeatedly punched the wall until it gave in and bricks splintered everywhere. He stumbled blindly out of the room, still holding Alicia close. He waited a moment for his vision to clear.

He sighed in relief when he saw he was in a corridor.

"Alicia?" He mumbled hopefully. There was no reply. Ben quickly made up his mind to get Alicia somewhere safe before finding Doom and kicking his sorry arse.

WITH JOHNNY

The powerless teenager slowly opened his eyes. He was less than surprised to see Sofia and Phillip standing in front of him. He shivered slightly and then suddenly realised he was outside. His eyes widened slightly as he realised he could see the Baxter Building and right into the penthouse balcony. He was on the roof, propped up right against the edge. Surprisingly he wasn't tied up, just sitting there. A cold clammy hand was grasped around his. He looked around and realised apart from Sofia and Phillip there was only one other person on the roof.

Johnny didn't even have to look at Vanessa to know she was relieved to see he was awake. A small smile crossed her lips and she gave his hand a squeeze. Automatically Johnny squeezed back.

"Good afternoon Mr Storm," Phillip boomed. Johnny gave him a withered look as he started a monologue. _Great, another friggin' wannabe. What's the attraction with all this super villain crap anyway? It's not like any of them get anywhere, they all wind up dead or behind bars with a crappy reputation. I wonder how he'll end up…hmm…he seems too young to die, he's annoying though…hmm, what's that smell? Is it hotdogs? Man I could kill for one of those right now…when was the last time I even had one?_

Phillip paused, he had been walking up and down in front of Johnny and Vanessa for effect but it appeared the most important person wasn't even listening. Johnny was gazing off into the distance with a thoughtful look on his face and he kept sniffing.

"What do you have a cold or something?" Phillip snapped. Johnny snapped out of his trance and looked at Phillip.

"Huh?" He asked, mystified.

"You keep sniffing," Phillip moaned. Johnny smirked.

"It'd nothing," Johnny said shaking his head, "carry on." So Phillip did but Johnny just switched off again. Infuriated Phillip let out an aggravated roar and in one smooth motion picked up Vanessa by her throat and held her out over the edge.


	37. One down

**Disclaimer: You know the drill…I own Sofia, Phillip and SG**

"No!" Johnny shouted. He turned shouted around to face Vanessa, pure horror on his face. He tried to reach out and grab Vanessa but he suddenly felt arms pull him back; he looked around to find himself surrounded by henchmen. Slowly they began to drag him away from the edge. He winced as he was thrown against a wall, right next to a door. Johnny quickly realised it was simply an entrance to the stairwell. The henchmen stood around him. Guarding him.

"Johnny!" Vanessa managed to scream. She pulled at Phillip's fingers, which had a tight grip on her throat. She knew if she didn't fall to her death she'd be strangled.

"Ah, now I have your attention." Phillip said calmly, he was clearly enjoying the look on Johnny's face.

"Put her down," Johnny said in what he hoped sounded like his sister's calm, patronising negotiating voice.

"Let her go?" Phillip asked in mocking disbelief.

"Do it!" Sofia squealed, she was clearly excited by the drama. "Kill her," she added. "Kill her for me." Phillip looked at Vanessa and used his other hand to stroke her cheek.

"Shall i?" Phillip asked. Johnny was about to give some sort of sarcastic reply when he heard a thud. He paused and put his ear to a wall in a way that he hoped was very inconspicuous. There was another thud, and another and another. Someone was climbing the stairs and there was only one person who could make as much noise as that. Johnny resisted a grin and instead turned back to Phillip. He needed to distract him, at least till Ben reached the roof.

"Do you love her?" Johnny said suddenly, it had been the first thing that had popped into his head and now he felt stupid. Phillip looked blank and Johnny didn't miss the annoyed look Sofia gave him. He smiled slightly, _man I am so good at this. _

"What?" Phillip asked.

"You don't answer a question with a question," Johnny said with a smirk.

"Huh?" Phillip said, obviously thoroughly confused.

"Do you love her?" Johnny repeated. Phillip still looked blank.

"Her!" Johnny said and he pointed to Sofia.

"Sofia? Oh…of course," Phillip said and waved his hand dismissively.

"Is that a yes or no?" Johnny asked cautiously. Phillip gave him a withered look.

"Yes," he said slowly.

"So you don't?" Johnny concluded.

"What? I just said yes! I don't have time for this," Phillip grumbled.

"But you hesitated."

"No I didn't."

"Yes you did."

"I didn't."

"Dude, you so did."

"Dude, I so didn't," Phillip said mockingly.

"See. You're not taking this seriously," Johnny said in a know-it-all voice.

"Of course not. I don't need some arrogant, weak, annoying kid dictating me on my feelings," Phillip's voice took on a low dangerous tone and he closed the large gap between him and Johnny in a second.

Johnny was sure his eyes were popping out of his head. He glanced from Phillip's body, which was now towering over him, to Phillip's hand, which was still hanging Vanessa over the edge.

"Holy shit," Johnny breathed. "You're…you're….you're frickin' Reed!" Phillip smirked.

"What, you think you're the only people who can have powers?" Phillip said patronisingly.

"Well, yes actually. We're the people that went into space, we got hit by friggin' rays…what the hell happened to you?"

"Magic," Phillip said simply. Johnny's eyebrows shot up to his hairline.

"What?" he asked in disbelief.

"M-A-G-I-C," Phillip said slowly. Johnny looked confused for a moment.

"Napic?" he said after a pause. Phillip let out an exasperated sigh. Johnny laughed.

"Chill, I'm kidding."

"You're kidding?" Phillip said in disbelief. "Now is not the time for jokes!"

"Now why does everybody always say that? You know what I wanna know, when is the time for jokes? What about the people who enjoy making jokes, don't they get a time? Don't they get a chance to be apprecia-"

"Enough!" Phillip shouted, cutting Johnny off. Ben's thunderous footsteps grew louder.

"Yeah, you're right. Enough is enough; I've been told that I talk too much. You know what I mean? But I get it, now is the time to stop talking. You need your quiet time. I get that and you know something else? I respect it too. 'Cos that's what this is all about at the end of the day. Respect." Phillip was about to tell Johnny where to stick his respect when the door beside Johnny, and some of the surrounded wall, shattered and The Thing emerged looking very pissed off. Alicia slung over his shoulder like a rag doll.

Ben looked surprised at the scene before him. Everyone, apart from Johnny and Vanessa, were frozen with fear.

"You took your time," Johnny hissed, standing up and brushing rubble off his shoulders.

"Yeah, sorry saving you from another mess wasn't above saving my girlfriend on my 'to do list'." Ben grumbled. Phillip made a silent signal and slowly, one by one, the soldiers took aim at Ben.

"Looks like they wanna fight," Johnny said, Ben noted the arrogance in his voice.

"Yeah, well I'll handle these guys and you can watch Alicia," Ben said and he slowly slid Alicia off his shoulder and placed her on the ground behind him.

"Nah, I got more important things to do," Johnny said with a smirk.

"Well then hurry up and do 'em kid."

Ben cracked his knuckles and suddenly the fighting had begun. The men began to shoot at Ben who looked unimpressed. He pounded his fists together sending a shockwave. Ten men went flying across the roof. Johnny smirked and weaved through the crowd to where Phillip was. Despite the fact that people, including his girlfriend, were flying across the roof his attention was fixed on Vanessa.

"Whatever shall I do with you," he murmured.

"You could start by putting her down," Johnny said carefully.

"Hmm…let me think about that…how about no? Like you said, things aren't that easy," Phillip quoted mockingly with a smirk. Johnny rolled his eyes; he hated it when people did that.

"Yeah but what's gonna happen if you kill her?" Johnny asked. "It's not like anything good will happen."

"Oh, is that so?" Phillip said disdainfully. He loosened his grip on Vanessa and she let out a whimper.

"Hurt her and I swear I'll cut off your head," Johnny growled. Phillip smirked, now he was getting a reaction.

"I'd like to see you try," Phillip retorted. Sofia sidled up to Phillip's side and smirked Johnny.

"Yeah…you're right. I got a better idea." Johnny grabbed Sofia and pulled her towards him. He held her in front of him, his arm gripped around her neck. Sofia screamed.

"I'll break her neck…I swear I'll do it," Johnny suddenly found himself shouting. By then Ben had pretty much knocked everyone else that was on the roof, he strode over to the action.

"I'll give you 30 seconds," Johnny announced. Phillip stared at him and Johnny could tell he was having some sort of deep internal battle.

"Why don't you both let the ladies go…at the same time," Ben suggested. If he was honest he couldn't care less what happened to Sofia. But he wasn't about to let Johnny become the cold-blooded killer. The two men stared at eachother.

"How about that?" Ben asked.

"Twenty," Johnny said coldly.

"On the count of three…three…two…one," Ben deflated as both men ignored him and held on tight to their hostages.

"Fine," he grumbled and walked off to where Alicia was lying.

"Ten," Johnny said, not breaking eye contact with Phillip.

"Nine."

Phillip glanced at Sofia.

"Eight."

Johnny resisted a smirk; Phillip was cracking.

"Seven."

Johnny allowed him self a glance at Johnny but he could tell by the look in her eyes she was less than happy with him.

"Six." Johnny looked away from Vanessa and back to Phillip.

"Five."

"You won't do it. I know you won't," Phillip said confidently.

"Four." Johnny placed his hands around Sofia's head. Sofia whimpered. It was then that he realised he didn't have a clue what he was doing. Phillip's confident smirk faltered and Johnny relaxed slightly; _I must be doing something right. _

"Three." _C'mon man…break already!_

"Two." Ben stopped what he was doing and turned around. Was Johnny really going to do this?

Johnny paused before he continued; hoping Phillip would seize the chance to save his girlfriend. Phillip stared at him.

"One." Phillip made no move; he just continued to smirk at Johnny.

"Told you he didn't love you," Johnny whispered in Sofia's ear before he did the deed.

There was a sickening crack and Sofia's body went limp, Johnny let her go and couldn't help but enjoy the look of horror on Phillip's face as he watched her crumple into a heap. Phillip stared in shock at his girlfriend's body. Slowly he brought Vanessa to the roof; dropping her the second she was within reach of the concrete edge. Vanessa hit the concrete with a soft thud, her surprise at being released written clearly on her face.

"Sofia," Phillip said quietly, his voice barely a whisper. He dropped down to his knees and pulled Sofia's limp body towards him. Phillip buried his head in her neck and began to silently cry. The only sign of his grief was the occasional sniff and his shallow breathing.

Ashamed, Johnny looked away. He felt someone tug on his arm.

"Let's get out of here," Vanessa whispered. Johnny nodded numbly, slightly mystified by his sudden guilt. Johnny allowed Vanessa to lead him towards the door. Ben was waiting for them by it, Alicia still slung over his shoulder.

"Don't feel bad kid," Ben said soothingly.

"I don't," was Johnny's curt reply.

He grabbed the door handle and yanked the door open. He jumped when he came face to face with none other than Doctor Doom himself. The man stood there in all his metal glory, from his shiny mask to his green cloak that hung off him in an oddly majestic way.

"Going somewhere?" he asked. Johnny didn't even have time to open his mouth before Doom backhanded him across his cheek. Ben and Sofia watched in horror as he went flying across the roof, his head hit the concrete with a stomach-churning thud.


	38. It's gonna blow

**Disclaimer: I own Stephen, Phillip and Vanessa.**

**Author's note: Sorry for the incredible delay people. But I've been ill and then there's been this whole thing with mock exams and my first GCSE exam this week…it's been crazy!!! And so I have obviously not had the time to be writing. Thanks to all the reviews!!! Would you believe I am actually nearly finished…I think there are about two chapters left. **

Vanessa let out a cry and ran over to Johnny. Ben exhaled loudly and carefully put Alicia down.

"Picking on defenceless teenagers again Doom? Someone really oughta teach you some manners," Ben said to his enemy. Victor let out a laugh.

"Come on Ben. I think you're getting confused again. Who just knocked out half of my best staff?" Doom asked gesturing to the many men lying on the floor.

"They started it," Ben said nonchalantly with a shrug.

"Oh I'm sure they did," Doctor Doom replied before sending some electricity Ben's way. Ben was pushed back a few feet. He smirked slightly.

"That the best you can do?" he asked.

"Oh I'm just getting started," Doom said cockily. The two men rushed at each other and began punching each other.

Meanwhile Vanessa was cradling a dazed, half-conscious Johnny.

"Johnny…Johnny can you hear me?" Vanessa whispered. Johnny blinked and groaned in reply. Vanessa allowed herself a small smile of relief.

"Can you get up?" she asked quietly. Johnny gave a small nod and tried to sit up. The already sharp pain in his head increased and he sat back down.

"I guess not," Vanessa muttered.

Phillip had not moved from the position he was in. He sobbed silently as he gently cradled Sofia's head. Her face was spookily still, her eyes wide in terror. As he stared at her face it dawned on Phillip that she was dead…and it was all Johnny's fault. Slowly Phillip laid Sofia on the floor and with a single sweep of his hand pulled her eyelids down. He stood up slowly and glared at Johnny.

"You killed her! You killed her you bastard!" Phillip screamed at the top of his lungs. This stopped everyone dead in their tracks. Ben stood with his fist in the air, ready to bring it crashing down on Doom's jaw. Doom had a fist held back; it crackled with electricity. Vanessa shuffled backwards and slightly in front of Johnny. Phillip didn't think he could get so much pleasure out of seeing the flash of fear in Johnny's eyes as he realised Phillip's words were directed at Johnny. All eyes were on Phillip as he slowly and steadily advanced towards Johnny. He took large steps with an odd funeral march feel. Johnny could almost hear the tune as Phillip drew closer.

Once he was within reach Phillip swept Vanessa aside and grabbed Johnny by his broken arm in one swift move. Johnny winced in pain and found he was wishing yet again he had listened to his sister and stayed at home. Phillip dragged Johnny across the roof, ignoring Vanessa's screams of protest and Johnny's cries of pain whenever Phillip did a sharp turn to avoid the bodies littering the roof. Phillip dragged him to the stairwell and couldn't help but smirk as he imagined the pain Johnny was possibly feeling as he was dragged down the stairs.

The second Phillip and Johnny were out of view Ben and Victor's fighting resumed.

VICTOR'S OFFICE

Sue's lips were pressed so tightly together they seemed to have disappeared altogether. She gripped Reed's hand tighter as she heard a shout and then another loud thump from the roof above. Reed gave her hand a squeeze as there was another cry and Sue began to flicker out of sight.

"That's Johnny," she whispered.

"I know," was Reed's calm reply. They both stared at the door, both of them fighting the urge to bolt out the room and save their youngest team member. But if they succumbed to that growing urge they both knew they would be killed instantly. The green transparent force field stood in front of the door tauntingly. Unlike any of Sue's force fields this one would kill you the second you touched it. Doctor Doom had kindly given them a demonstration to show them he was no kidding. Sue stared at the corpse that was once a henchman as if to get it into her mind why she couldn't just run out the door.

The room was silent once more apart from the occasional beep from Leonard's PDA and the rhythmic click of a computer keyboard as Stephen typed out something. From the way he kept staring at her Sue guessed it was a poem.

Reed looked around the room, searching for something that could disable the force field. Doom had described it as indestructible but that was what they had once called him, once united the Fantastic Four defeated Doctor Doom in less than five minutes. Reed's eyes wandered hopelessly around the room as he realised the room was pretty much empty, it seemed Doom was going for the minimalist look. He glanced out the window and at the Baxter Building; he knew there was something in his lab that would get rid of it in an instant. Except he wasn't in his lab; he was locked inside Doom's office with four walls, windows and a blocked door keeping him inside.

Reed stood up suddenly, a smirk on his face. Sue watched with a confused look on her face as he strode over to the window and began to inspect. Sue watched him with a confused look on her face for a moment before she realised what he was doing. He was going to get out the window.

Reed took a few steps away from the window, enlarged his hand until it was five times the size it usually was and smashed it into the glass. The floor-length window shattered instantly. Reed turned around and smiled at Sue.

"Are you coming?" he asked, stretched out his hand to her. Sue smiled and accepted.

SG and Leonard watched, shocked that neither of them had thought of such an escape route before.

Sue put a force field disc next to the window and stepped out onto it, pulling Reed with her.

"Going up," Sue announced. She was about to lift the disc to roof level when she was suddenly jerked backwards, she turned around to see Leonard trying to pull her off. She was momentarily shocked and just stared at him as he continued his unbelievable lame attempt to pull her back into the room or to her death. A wave of irritation flickered in her eyes and she pushed him away with a force field. Leonard fell to the floor with a thump. He watched dejectedly as the couple rose out of sight. Stephen watched him, not bothering to contain his amusement.

"That was lame," he commented. Leonard glared at him and Stephen went back to his poem.

IN THE BASEMENT

Johnny watched as Phillip fiddled with a control panel on the wall, his back to Johnny. He looked up at the pole Phillip had tied his hands to. It seemed to hang mockingly above him. Johnny felt like his arms were being pulled out of their sockets. His broken arm was killing him. The pole was pretty sturdy, only someone of Ben's weight could break it. But he began to desperately pull on it anyway.

"Stop struggling," Phillip said sternly without turning around. Johnny ignored him.

"I said stop!" Phillip screamed. He turned around a flung a bucket of water over Johnny. Johnny flinched at the contact of the cool liquid. He stared down at his soaking wet t-shirt.

"Um…didn't you get the memo? I'm powerless. Water can't hurt me," Johnny pointed out. Phillip smirked.

"Are you sure it's water?" Phillip asked smugly. Johnny looked confused. Slowly he sniffed his t-shirt. He couldn't help but smile as he was suddenly hit with memories of the days he spent hanging around garages fixing and admiring cars. Johnny loved that smell, it was so distinctive, he was shocked he hadn't recognised it before.

"Petrol," Johnny said, an oddly blissful smile on his face. If Phillip was confused or shocked by Johnny reaction he didn't show it. Instead he smirked at the idea that Johnny had yet to figure out his plan. Phillip hit a button and the room was suddenly filled with warmth and light.

Johnny stared at the lit furnace and watched as Phillip swung the door open. The temperature in the room suddenly began to climb at an impossibly fast rate. Johnny stared, hypnotised by the flames, as it slowly dawned on him what exactly Phillip intended to do. His smile slowly faded and he found himself trying to get as far away from it as possible.

"Don't worry…I won't throw you in there," Phillip said mockingly. Johnny was too scared to retort. "I'm just a little…cold."

Phillip took large steps towards Johnny.

"Are you cold?" Phillip asked. Johnny stared numbly at him, every so often his eyes flickering towards the blazing furnace.

"I bet it sucks…being cold. Not being able to heat your self up whenever you want," Phillip said and for a second Johnny thought he was being genuine.

"I bet you'd give anything to flame on just one last time," Phillip said, his voice dripping with false sympathy. Johnny suddenly became aware that Phillip was holding a piece of wood, which was burning furiously at the tip. He was slowly bringing it closer to Johnny. Johnny pushed himself against the wall.

"Please don't," he mumbled. Surprised by his moment of weakness Phillip stopped.

"Why?" Phillip asked. "Why should i? What have you ever done for me? Why do you deserve anything better?"

"Because I'm sorry!" Johnny shouted. "I swear I never meant to kill her. It was all some crazy mixed up accident…I'm one of the good guys! I don't wander around breaking girl's necks to piss off their boyfriends!"

For a second Johnny thought Phillip would drop his makeshift club, untie him and offer Johnny a handshake. The intense pain that ran through his side as the burning club collided with the side of his torso quickly changed his mind. Johnny watched in horror as his t-shirt burst into the flames. A scream burst from his lips and though he knew it wouldn't help he automatically tried to shake off the flames.

He writhed in pain as the flames licked his body. Phillip watched with a satisfied smirk on his face. Johnny had often wondered how he would die but since the space incident he had crossed 'burning to death' off the list. Never in his life had he wished so badly to be fireproof.

Phillip had to admit he had never felt happier. He had often wondered if he was really cut out for the whole villain thing, but it was moments like these that always erased such thoughts. Revenge was an odd thing and Phillip had heard it was often the end of most great villains. Now he could understand why it had been one of his father's greatest weaknesses. Suddenly causing The Human Torch great pain was the only thing that mattered to him. He briefly wondered what would be the focus of his life once the boy was dead. Would it be to help Doctor Doom and destroy the rest of the Fantastic Four? Would his life become empty? 0Phillip stopped himself; he was having second thoughts again. Doctor Doom would be ashamed to know his son was reconsidering such things.

Johnny's screams grew louder; the flames were getting to him now. Phillip frowned, he was pretty sure Johnny should be dead or unconscious by now. He stared at the writhing ball of flame; something was wrong, he just didn't know what.

It was as Phillip was completely focused on Johnny that the fire extinguisher seemed to come out of nowhere and slam down on his head. Phillip slid to the floor and Sue suddenly appeared the extinguisher in her hands. She hurriedly pressed the trigger, covering her brother in foam. Eventually he stopped moving and she ceased putting out the fire.

"Johnny?" she said uncertainly. When he didn't reply she grew worried. "Johnny?" she said again. This time there was a groan. Sue gave a sigh of relief and came closer. She slowly wiped the foam off Johnny's face. He smiled weakly at her.

"You took your time," he mumbled.

"I was delayed," Sue said coolly. She elevated herself with a force field and begun to untie the relatively simple knot that bound Johnny to the pole.

"You're not dead," Sue stated. "How the hell do you do these things Johnny? Oh my god! Have you got your powers back?"

No," Johnny said sadly. At Sue's confused look he explained. "What you think I'm gonna throw out all my clothes that are fireproof just because I'm not? C'mon Sue, be realistic." Sue smiled. Of course it would be the trivial or vain things that Johnny did that would inevitably save his life.

"I am being realistic…so does this mean you weren't in pain?" Sue asked. She pulled the rope away, leaving Johnny to finally put his arms by his sides. Johnny shook out his arm, a grin on his face.

"Well, I always did have a talent for acting didn't I," Johnny said cockily. Sue laughed.

"C'mon…we have an old friend to defeat," Sue said as she made her way to the exit. Just as she was nearing the door she ran into Stephen. He smiled and gave a little wave.

"Stephen!" Sue said, obviously shocked. 'What are you doing here? How did you get out?"

"I disabled the field," Stephen said proudly.

"Wait, you knew how to get rid of it and you didn't say anything?" Sue asked angrily. Stephen's pride seemed to shrink away; unable to think of a way to get himself out of trouble he ignored her comment.

"You see that watch he's wearing?" Stephen pointed to Phillip. Sue and Johnny looked at each other, wondering where this was going.

"There's an explosive in that powerful enough to destroy this whole block." Johnny took a step away from Phillip, eying the watch worriedly.

"And what? It's gonna blow up?" Johnny asked. Stephen seemed to notice Johnny for the first time. He looked the teenager up and down, his eyes narrowed. He didn't like what he saw.

"No," Stephen said slowly. Johnny looked offended by his patronising tone. Stephen took a small remote out of his pocket and pressed the single button on it.

"But it will now," Stephen said with a smile. Johnny and Sue looked at each other.

"You have three minutes."


	39. Feels good to be a hero

**Disclaimer: I don't own the FF and Doom**

**Author's note: Here's the thing - I am sick to death of this story. It is driving me insane, literally. I've spent like a year writing it and with all my exams coming up I just need to see it done…which is why this chapter ends really badly. There is only one chapter left which I will post sometime, hopefully before Friday (2 days people!!). I apologise to all those who wanted to see a good ending and who knows, maybe some of you will like it. **

Johnny and Sue stared at Stephen as he walked off.

"Your boyfriend's crazy," Johnny announced. Sue glared.

"He's not my boyfriend," she retorted and then added under her breath, "but I think he might be crazy."

"How are we gonna get everyone out in time?" Johnny asked worriedly.

"I'll handle that," Sue replied. She made a force field disc and stepped onto it.

"What about me? What do I do?" Johnny asked.

"Get out of here," Sue responded.

"What?!"

"It's too dangerous, you need to get as far away from here as possible. The best thing for you to do right now is get out… Now!" Sue said firmly, emphasising the 'now'. Johnny could tell by the tone of her voice there wasn't much point in arguing. He watched as his sister zoomed off on her force field, leaving him to make his way out.

Johnny stood in the room for a full thirty seconds after his sister left. He listened as her voice rang out over the announcer, warning him he had 'less than three minutes until a bomb in the basement detonates'. Slowly he dragged himself up the staircase and towards the lobby.

ON THE ROOF

The three men froze as they listened to the Invisible Woman's message. Reed and Ben exchanged worried looks. Victor glared at both of them.

"So you want to destroy my building?" he asked once the message was over, electricity crackling from his fingers.

"If we did you woulda known it a long time ago," Ben replied, cracking his knuckles. He took a step towards Doom but was stopped by a large hand on his chest. He turned to Reed with raised eyebrows.

"We can finish this later…right now I think we need to get out of here," Reed said quietly. Ben glanced from Reed to Doom and back again. He let out a sigh and unclenched his fists. Doom smirked.

"You're not backing out are you?" he asked patronisingly.

"Sorry Vic, these things happen. We should this again some time, next Friday sound good?" Ben asked as he scooped Alicia over his shoulder and followed Reed to the edge of the roof. Ben waved mockingly before he and Reed jumped over. There was a loud thump as they made contact with the street below.

Doctor Doom glared at the spot they had once been in. He didn't flinch when Sue zoomed past him on a force field, clutching her baby close to her chest. She didn't seem to notice him either. He smirked behind his mask as a plan began to formulate in his head and turned swiftly towards his office. He had one last thing to do.

IN THE LOBBY

Johnny was surprised to see the lobby was full of people. He had thought they would all try to get out as quickly as possible. He watched as the smartly dressed people clawed at the glass doors and windows. Suddenly it hit him; they were locked in. Johnny's brain rapidly went into superhero mode. He pushed through the crowd and towards one of the many automatic doors. He pushed it firmly but it didn't budge. He tried to prise the doors apart with his fingers but it wouldn't have worked even if he had fingernails that would turn his sister into a green-eyed monster. Ignoring the throbbing in his arm Johnny banged on the door, as he did so he noticed his team mates gathered outside. A wave of relief swept over him.

"Sue! Ben! Reed!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, over and over again. They didn't seem to hear him. They were standing in a tight circle, most likely discussing their next move. He cupped his hands around his mouth and put it to the gap between the doors.

"Sue! Ben! Reed!" he began again. The people around him seemed to catch on to what he was doing and began to try and catch the rest of the Fantastic Four's attention. There was still nothing. Johnny felt a hand on his shoulder; he turned around to see Vanessa.

"It is you! Your alive!" she exclaimed and threw her arms around him. Johnny grinned slightly.

"Of course, you think some psycho, Mr Fantastic wannabe can kill me?" he replied proudly.

"Actually…yeah," Vanessa replied. Johnny gave a mock gasp.

"What's up with these doors anyway?" Johnny asked, quickly changing the subject to a more pressing matter.

"I don't know," Vanessa sighed. "But what I do know is that they can only be opened from the main computer once the systems been set on lockdown…which I'm guessing this is."

"Where is this main computer?" Johnny asked. Vanessa's eyes widened.

"You can't go up there. Not right now anyway, there's no time to get there and back," she said quickly.

"Where is it?" Johnny repeated. Vanessa sighed.

"Mr Von Doom's office," she replied before adding hastily. "But it's too late. There's no way you'll get there and back in time, even with the lift!"

"Yeah but if I don't get up there we'll all die," Johnny said firmly. He pushed his way through the crowd and to the lift. Vanessa followed.

"Johnny no! You don't have to be the hero this time," she begged as he pressed the call button.

"Well then who will? I don't if you've noticed but no one else seems to be volunteering."

The lift doors slid open.

"How are you going to get out in time?" she asked as he stepped inside.

"I dunno…jump out the window?" he suggested and then as an afterthought added, "Tell Reed or Sue to catch me." Vanessa nodded numbly and watched as the doors slid shut, she was about to turn away when the doors slid open again. Johnny stepped out and pulled Vanessa towards him and pressed his lips on hers. He pulled away and flashed her a heart-melting smile.

"Thanks," he mumbled. "…for everything." Vanessa smiled back.

"Your welcome."

OUTSIDE

"Sue I need you to contain the building in the force field…can you do that?" Reed asked.

"Sure…but…well…where is everyone?" Sue asked.

"I saw a few people running out when I came down but Susie's right…should there be people running around right now?" Ben asked. The three superheroes eyed the building warily.

"Well if there are people inside then we need to make sure they get out...Ben, break one of the windows," Reed instructed. Ben nodded and went over to the building.

He peered through the glass and at the empty building. Then he remembered what Reed's impostor had told them earlier - it was no ordinary glass. For all he knew there could be hundreds of screaming people trying to get his attention on the other side of the seemingly normal glass. Just in case Ben said loudly, "stand back!" Hoping he could be heard by anyone who might be inside he punched the glass. Only it didn't shatter like he had expected it to, it just made a dull thud. Ben frowned and tried again, his punches got harder but there was no change. He stood back and stared at the glass, there wasn't even a scratch.

Reed stretched over, he stroked the glass curiously.

"Wow…it's…it's indestructible…indestructible glass…I…I've been working on this. How did Doom do it?" Reed turned to Ben, "Do you think he changed the structure of the atoms? Maybe he just added another element? I wonder what…" Reed trailed off when he noticed Ben's blank look.

"Sorry," he mumbled sheepishly. "It's just…wow…I think I'll have to take some of it back to the Baxter building."

"Guys," Sue shouted from behind them. "I think you should stand back, it's gonna go any minute now."

DOOM'S OFFICE

Johnny slowly pushed the heavy mahogany doors open and peered inside. He half expected Doom to be sitting on his throne, waiting for whoever was going to be the hero of the day. But the room was empty. Once he realised this, Johnny quickly made his way to the throne. He stared at the control panels along the arms of the chair. He had really expected to see a big button that said 'unlock doors' but the buttons were all unlabeled. They were clearly only to used by Doctor Doom himself.

Johnny began to panic. Every button looked the same - small and shiny. He contemplated pressing them all to see what would happen but quickly decided against. For all he knew one of the buttons would set off a nuclear missile that would wipe out the whole of humanity. Johnny stared at the many buttons and wondered if he was lucky enough to pick a button at random and the button he picked would be the one that unlocked all the doors. He quickly decided against it. Lady Luck seemed to be slightly annoyed with him lately.

Not surprisingly Johnny was beginning to panic, he never usually had to make those kinds of decisions. Normally it was Reed, sometimes it was his sister and very rarely it was Ben. Johnny had no idea how much time had passed since Stephen had set off the timer but he was sure it was at least two minutes ago. Johnny closed his eyes, took a deep breath and pressed all the buttons in rapid succession. _Please don't be a missile please don't be a missile. _

The lights began to flicker, the fan in the corner turned on and an alarm sounded through the building. Johnny ignored all of these and ran over to the window, sure enough there were people streaming out the building. Johnny stuck his head out the broken window and stared at the sky. Thankfully there was no missile in sight. Johnny gave a sigh of relief and smiled triumphantly - it felt good to be the hero.

_BOOM! _


	40. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Fantastic Four or any enemies or friends you may recognise from the comics of films**

**Author's note: This is it. Last chapter. I just saw FF2 for the second time; it's an amazing film. Chris Evans is particularly good and I'm not just saying that because he's buff. If you haven't seen it then go see it…if you have, go see it again! Well anyway, back to this story. This chapter is much better than I thought it would be. If you don't like it then you don't want to know what it was like before. I'm actually kind proud of this story, it took me so long to write but it's 125 pages and for me, that's pretty impressive. I want to thank everyone who ever read and reviewed my story. I would list you all but I really don't have the time and I don't want to miss anyone out -you guys know who you are. Again thank you so much for reading this story and I hope you enjoyed it just as much as I did in the beginning and way more than me towards the end. The end may hint at a sequel but trust me…there isn't one on the way. Enjoy!**

_BOOM!_

Sue winced slightly at the blast that suddenly pushed at her force field. She ignored the screams and cowering people. Her attention was completely on the burning building. Reed had already given her a brief list of just some of the things that could happen if she dropped her force field, none of them had been particularly nice. Sue became vaguely aware that one of the screaming people had approached her and was jumping up and down, pointing at the building. She glanced at her in irritation but found herself doing a double take.

"Vanessa?" she asked, glancing between the girl and the building. It seemed strange that of all the people to see beside an exploding building she would see the one woman in the world her brother had managed to stay in a relationship with for more than a year. Sue had been sure the pair would get married, but apparently so did Johnny because he suddenly felt the urge to sleep with a few supermodels.

Vanessa was waving her arms frantically and it took Susan a moment to realise that Vanessa was telling her to stop.

"Stop! Stop it please!" she shouted over and over again. Seeing she was a distraction, Reed took over; he pulled Vanessa away from Sue.

"What's wrong?" he asked. Vanessa stopped screaming and took a few deep breaths to compose herself before frantically replying, "Johnny's in there!"

The three words captured Sue's attention.

"Sue, no!" Reed shouted but it was too late. The force field faltered for a split second but it was all the flames needed to escape.

Flames seeped out through the force field. The crowds of workers that had been stupid enough not to run for their lives and stayed dangerously close to the building fell silent. There was a strange moment where for a second everyone stared at the flames, entranced. It was a truly incredible if not terrifying sight. The building seemed to almost disintegrate before the crowd's eyes. The bricks crumbled and the indestructible glass seemed to melt. As quickly as it had come it was gone. The force field dissipated under the strain of the blast and flames rushed outwards. Sue was quick to react, sending a force field over the tightly crowds, Vanessa and her teammates. There was a hushed silence as the crowds watched flames fly over them, realising they were protected by the invisible shield.

The second the flames died down the force field was gone and Sue was running towards the building. She stopped in her tracks, startled, at the sight before her. She had not known what to expect but the pile of rubble left over from the once great building seemed incredibly small. Reed and Ben rushed up beside her.

"It's been…vaporised. The area closest to the blast has been vaporised," Reed announced gravely. "Incredible," he couldn't help but add, earning him a death glare from Sue.

Ben began to dig at the rubble, lifting large chunks of brick and throwing them around. Sue and Reed quickly joined.

"You two should probably know there is a 95 percent chance we won't find Johnny," Reed announced solemnly. Ben stopped what he was doing at stared at Reed, disbelief was written clearly on his face.

"Then there is a 5 percent chance we will," Ben replied. "And he will be alive," he added, putting an emphasis on 'will' before getting back to work.

"I just don't want you to be too optimistic," Reed mumbled, slightly hurt by his friend insinuating he thought they were wasting their time. Ben paused again and looked up at Reed.

"I know stretch…I know."

The two best friends went back to digging in the surrounding rubble. Meanwhile Susan had moved to a different spot. Her lips were pressed so tightly together they could barely be seen. She stopped lifting the rocks as she got a brainwave, one she was embarrassed she didn't have before. She dropped the rocks held in force fields around her and closed her eyes. She resisted a smirk as she heard someone in the crowd ask what happened to all the rocks. She opened her eyes and glanced at her team; Reed was smiling proudly at her but Ben was looking past her at something else. She turned around and followed his line of sight. An infuriatingly-damsel-in-distress-like gasp escaped her.

Johnny's body was sprawled out in between rocks near what Sue realised was the bottom of the pile. The rocks reappeared and Johnny was gone. Sue stood stunned as she stared at the spot Johnny was in. Ben and Reed were already pulling up huge chunks of rubble. They stopped once Johnny came into view. Ben pulled him out with one swift movement and laid him out like a rag doll. Reed bent over him and put to fingers to his neck, he turned around and smiled at Sue.

"He's alive," he announced. There were sighs of relief from the crowd and they began to chatter excitedly. Sue released the breath she didn't know she was holding and walked closer to the rest of her team.

At that exact moment, with timing that seemed too convenient for real life, Johnny opened his eyes. His eyelids slowly flickered open and he looked around with a dazed expression on his face. He frowned for a second; trying to piece the day's events back together. His frown faded and he grinned.

"I did it," he mumbled as he slowly sat up.

"Did what?" Ben asked, his face showing genuine concern.

"Saved everyone."

Ben chuckled: he couldn't help it. Reed found himself laughing with him. Sue smiled.

"Thank god you're okay," she said as said as she pulled him into a motherly hug.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Johnny replied conceitedly. Sue pulled away from him, her relieved smile faded. She glared at Johnny, suddenly remembering what she had told him.

"I told you to stay at home," she scolded. "Look at you! You nearly died! What were you thinking coming here today? I mean look, have you seen that cut on your forehead? Do you realise how much blood you've probably lost today?" Johnny switched off and pretended to look ashamed. _I risk my life and the thanks I get…_

LATER, OUTSIDE THE BAXTER BUILDING

The cheers grew as the Fantastic Four stepped out the car. The press were going wild, questions were flying left, right and centre and there was a steady stream of camera flashes. Johnny grinned and winked at a crowd of teenage girls waving a banner, causing them to scream and argue over whom he was winking at. Sue and Reed smiled at each other and Ben waved shyly at the children screaming his name.

"Amazing, " Sue said with a smile as she watched her brother talk to the journalists. "He gets trapped under a building and the second he wakes up he puts on a show."

Reed smiled, "well it is Johnny. He'll always have energy for the tabloids."

They gave Johnny a few minutes before announcing that they had things to do and dragging him inside.

Johnny sighed loudly and beamed at his team.

"That was crazy!" he announced.

"Yeah, crazy," Ben muttered and headed towards the stairs.

"Wait!" Johnny shouted after him. "I'm coming with you." Ben, Sue and Reed blinked in surprise and watched as Johnny jogged over to Ben. Johnny did a lot of things but one of them was never taking the stairs, particularly to accompany Ben.

"Be quick Johnny, I wanna get a look at that," Reed called after him, pointing to the bandage on his head. Johnny nodded in acknowledgement and followed Ben into the stairwell.

They walked the first few flights in silence. It wasn't awkward in any way, just comfortable. Ben watched Johnny suspiciously, waiting for the bouncy superhero to say something but he just kept on grinning to himself.

"Whaddya want?" Ben asked bluntly. Johnny looked startled at Ben's directness before grinning again.

"Nothing…I just felt like walking," Johnny lied. Ben raised his eyebrows.

"Oh really?"

"Yes really," Johnny retorted. "Why does everyone always think I have some kind of hidden agenda," he moaned.

"Because you always do," Ben said frankly.

"I don't" Johnny said, clearly shocked.

"Yes you do."

"No I don't."

"You do."

"I don't."

"You do."

"I don't."

"You do."

"I so don't."

"Well I'm telling you, you 'so' do."

"Ben, when have I ever had an ulterior motive?" Johnny asked, he had, by now, stopped climbing the stairs and was standing in front of Ben in an effort to get him to stop.

"Do you really wanna know?" Ben asked, pushing Johnny aside and continuing his trek.

"I don't know…do I?"

"No."

"Tell me."

"No."

"Please," Johnny pleaded.

"No."

"Wait…why aren't you telling me?" Johnny asked, genuinely confused. Ben grinned.

"Cos it's fun to see you like this," he answered truthfully.

"And Sue calls me cruel."

"I'll tell you if you tell me what's up with this whole you-walking-with-me thing," Ben offered. Johnny paused and made a face like he was making a tough decision.

"Okay fine. I…wanted to thank you for helping me out earlier," Johnny admitted.

"And you don't want me to tell your sister about what happened to Sofia," Ben added helpfully. Johnny glared at him.

"Yeah…that too..."

"Don't worry, my lips are sealed," Ben said. Johnny looked doubtful but let it pass.

"Now it's your turn…how many times have I had a hidden agenda?" Johnny asked. Ben smirked.

"I've lost count," he sniggered and walked off, leaving Johnny standing there, stunned.

PENTHOUSE

"Are you okay?" Reed asked Sue for the umpteenth time. She nodded and gave him a bright smile. Reed didn't look convinced but he left her alone and went back to whatever it was he was working on. Sue's smile faded and she trudged off to the nursery.

She ran her hands over the blackened mural, it was just one of the many things that would have to be repaired. She smiled slightly as she heard Reed curse loudly. He was less than happy to discover that while in his body, Phillip had been messing around with his inventions. He was currently going around fixing everything or throwing it away. There was a loud crash; that was something that could obviously not be fixed.

Sue walked over to the crib and stared down at her son. Franklin slept soundly, it seemed he was more worn out than the rest of them. She rearranged the blanket covering him and sighed. She heard the door open and felt arms slide around her waist.

"What's wrong?" she asked calmly. Reed sighed.

"Phillip has completely destroyed my universal remote," Reed grumbled like a child that had lost its favourite toy.

"You'll fix it," Sue said soothingly. "You always do."

"I can't believe he's done this," Reed muttered.

"Can anyone?" Sue asked. The two stood in silence for a while, just watching the baby.

"Reed, I'm sorry," Sue mumbled.

"For what?" Reed asked.

"For leaving you with Doom. I…I should've realised he wasn't you…I mean…I…I got suspicious but he had your powers so I just thought…I thought the kidnapping was just stressing you out. I'm so sorry, I should've noticed the second you were gone and-"

"Hey," Reed said gently, he spun Sue around to face him. "It's not your fault. After all he managed to duplicate the one thing that made me unique. If someone turned invisible, looked and acted like you…I would think it was still you."

"Yeah but…I…I should've sensed it. The second I got suspicious I should have figured it out and busted you out of there…it…it must've been hell. What did they do to you?" Sue asked, stroking Reed's stubbly cheek.

"I'm fine. It was nothing I couldn't handle," Reed said dismissively.

"You were there for days," Sue wailed, unable to stop the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks.

"Sue, don't beat yourself up about this. All that matters is we're safe," Reed said as he pulled her into a warm hug.

"I know," she muttered into his shoulder.

"Anyway, Doom's still out there. This is far from over."

Sue closed her eyes and held her husband tighter. When she opened her eyes the first thing she saw over Reed's shoulder was a cream envelope on the side table. She could see her name written in neat italics on the front. She broke the hug and looked up at her husband.

"You're right," she said, wiping away her tears. Her gaze fell on the envelope again.

"It's far from over."

**Author's note: Ta dah! Thanks for reading.**

**xxx**

**Sd freek **


	41. Sequel stuff

**Okay so here's the thing: I might do a sequel. I realise it was very bad of me to leave the Johnny storyline unresolved and I actually do have what I think is a pretty good idea. I've finished all my exams and summer is three weeks away. So….i will do a sequel. It will probably be rubbish but it's not my fault! Remember, you guys pressured me into this. I just feel I kinda owe it to everyone who read this story till the end to watch Johnny get his powers back. **

**Anyway, the general idea for the sequel is that Johnny will get his powers back but not without a few side effects. Sue and Reed will be trying to get back to normal and enjoy parenthood and Ben will be trying to deal with Alicia being ill from the gas (a few chapters ago). SG and Doom will both be in it and maybe even Vanessa, it depends whether I feel like giving Johnny somebody to love. **

**What do you think? Good? Bad? Average? Let me know and tell me if you want to see some particular stuff. **


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